Obscurity
by pewterpotter
Summary: New Moon AU Edward has left Bella. But once the Cullens leave a new vampire family makes its way into town. And with Edward gone, a new vampire tries to catch Bella's heart.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

" _Bella, I don't want you to come with me." He spoke the words slowly and precisely, his cold eyes on my face, watching as I absorbed what he was really saying._

 _There was a pause as I repeated the words in my head a few times, sifting for their real intent._

" _You . . . don't . . . want me?" I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded, placed in that order._

" _No."_

 _. . ._

" _Take care of yourself," he breathed, cool against my skin. There was a light, unnatural breeze. My eyes flashed open. The leaves on a small vine maple shuddered with the gentle wind of his passing._

 _He was gone._

 _-New Moon, pages 61-65_

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Disclaimer - I don't own Twilight. If I did I would have made a lot of changes.


	2. Pity (Edited)

_**Chapter One: Pity**_

 _ **BPOV**_

* * *

It was raining in Forks, but when wasn't it? It had been a few days since the Cullens had left town and it seemed that a permanent black cloud loomed over Forks. I had managed to convince Charlie that I needed a few days away from school, but today I had to go. I had already missed out on so much in the few days I spent cooped up in my room, watching the forest that boarders the back of our yard in hopes to catch a glimpse of a flash.

I wasn't completely sure how I was going to survive at school today. The downfall of living in a small town, everyone knew everyone's business, so everyone would know that the Cullens had skipped town, and with my absence from school, they would have figured out Edward dumped me. I knew I wasn't over Edward. We had been through a lot in the brief relationship that we had. But did he really have to end it? He said he wasn't good enough for me, but only I could make that decision, not him. I was confused. Then why did they leave? Edward said it was because Carlisle's age was being questioned and they had been in Forks for too long.

My thoughts came jolting back to school. The pitied looks I would receive wouldn't sit well with me. The looks and the whispers was something I didn't want to face. With school in mind, I rolled over on my bed and looked at the alarm clock sitting on my bedside table. The red digits glowed seven-thirty at me, in my dark bedroom. I figured it was the perfect time for me to start getting ready. I rummaged through my room in hopes to find some clothes to wear for the day. I looked on my desk and saw that Charlie had brought up some clean clothes. I swiftly found a pair of dark jeans and a plum coloured knit. I put on my beaten up white sneakers and made my way downstairs for breakfast.

The kitchen was empty. There was a note on the table. It was from Charlie. _'Went to the station early. See you at dinner.'_ It was good. He often looked at me with pity. He had never had to deal with his teenager daughter go through heartbreak, so he didn't know how to deal with it. But under the pity, I could see the anger that he held towards Edward. Charlie looked like he just wanted to shoot a bullet through Edward's head. It was laughable, Edward won't be harmed, but there would be a series of questions that couldn't be answered.

Breakfast was the same as always. A piece of slightly brunt toast, which was spread with a healthy amount of peanut butter, and a tall glass of orange juice. I realised what little time I had left and quickly wolfed down my breakfast and place my plate and glass in the sink. I bolted up the stairs, and surprised myself when I didn't trip up the stairs. Grabbing my bag, I rushed and put all of my books and papers into my bag. On my way out, I grabbed my truck keys and closed and locked the door behind me.

As it was Forks, it had been raining. The concrete was all slippery and had puddles everywhere. I couldn't wait to try and walk down the halls of school without slipping over, I knew it couldn't be done. As I was driving to school, I looked out to the trees that were flying past me. A blur of a person went past. It was so fast, that if you blinked, you would have missed it. Any normal person would think it was a trick of the light. But I knew different. Hope filled me as I thought it could be anyone of the Cullens. Maybe they had changed their minds and came back to Forks, but I quickly dismissed the idea. I wanted and hoped that they would return, but I knew, deep, deep down they weren't coming back.

Pulling up to park at school, everyone's eyes were on me. It was scary and unnerving. It was like I was the girl again. The girl everyone wanted to know, the girl everyone wanted to talk to. They were trying to be discreet and whisper to each other, but I could see them all, as plain as day. The last time that happened, was when I came to school Edward all those months ago. The very thought of Edward sent a small ounce of pain through me. Gripping the staring wheel harder, I willed myself not to cry. I didn't want people to know how much this was affecting me, as I was more of the suffer-in-silence type of person. People would ask if I'm okay, and even more would ask if they was me crying.

With everyone's eyes on me, I walked into school. I paid them not a second thought and walked straight past them. I could last for six hours. Six hours worth of looks and whispers. But I knew I would find relief in the library at lunch today.

All of my classes went alright for the day. I had a lot of work to catch up on. This was good, it have me a distraction from everyone in the class. This gave me even more reason to spend my lunch in the library. When in English, I could feel everyone's eyes on me when we ere supposed to be writing notes from the board. As I rounded the corner to go to my biology class, I knew this was going to be hard. I walked into the class and saw the chair next to mine empty. Edward would either be there waiting for me, or standing next to me as he would have walked me from my previous class. Hushed voices filled the class up as people talked about me.

 _"_ _Isn't that the girl who knew the Cullens?"_

 _"_ _She looks so sad, I wonder if Edward dumped her?"_

 _"_ _Surly she knows where they have gone."_

"Hi ya Bella!" Someone puts their arm around my shoulder. I jumped at the sudden contact. For a minute I thought it could have been Emmett, but once I turned around I saw that it was Mike. "I haven't seen you in a while Arizona."

"I have been busy." I quickly replied. I got out of Mike's grasp and went straight to my desk.

Once I was at my desk, I instantly started to copy out the notes that were on the board. The teacher soon came around and dumped a pile of papers on my desk, which covered everything I missed from the past few days. I shoved them into my bag quickly and carried on note-taking. It was lunch after biology today, and the teacher felt generous and dismissed us early. As I left the classroom, the bell rung. I saw students flood out the classrooms, all on their way to meet up with their friends.

"Bella!" I could hear Mike call out to me.

I left. I ran to the bathroom in hopes to lose Mike and to not bump into Jessica, Angela or anyone else who wanted to drag me to lunch. If I hid in there long enough, the lunch rush should have quieten down enough for me to slip into the library unnoticed. Tears threatened to fall as I sat in a cubical all by myself. I quickly shook my head and rubbed my eyes. I refused to cry, and especially not in the drab girls bathroom at school. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my drink bottle and risked a quick sip. I started to feel better. Outside the bathroom, the halls started to quieten down. Five minutes. I was just going to wait for five more minutes.

The novelty of counting tiles soon wore off and soon I pulled out a book. It was a beautiful book, a book I completely adored. It would have to be my prized possession in my book collection. In big gold, cursive lettering, the title read, Shakespeare's Sonnets. The book was a well-thought out present from Esme and Carlisle. I figured Edward must of told them my love for Shakespeare. The spine gave a satisfying crack as I opened the cover. The cover was something different. It was maroon, with gold embellishments all over it. It was a little worn in the inside, instead of crisp white pages, it had slightly browned pages, however, the book appeared to be untouched. The present was a nice well thought through gift. And the people I had gotten it from where gone.

It was going be hard to forget about the Cullens. They had left such a big impact on my life. They changed how I thought and I perceived the world around me. But I was determined to move on, I would have my cry, then I am going to have a fresh start. A clean slate. A slate free of anything supernatural. Reading through a few pages, I decided enough time had passed and I could go the library.

The stall were dirty and I was glad to swing my bag over my shoulder and leave. At the sight of all the mould growing on the sinks and mirrors, I clutched my books closer to my chest. The bathroom was empty, I didn't recall anyone coming to the bathroom while I was hiding out. Peeking out of the door, I looked up and down the hallway. It was relatively clear. There was no one who would want to actually speak to me. I made my way to the library and weaved my way through the shelves to reach at table towards the back, and had a window next to it. I set my bag down on the chair next to me and pulled out my work from a few of my classes and my iPod.

For the next few weeks I continued to wallow in my own pity and sadness, and still continued to block everyone out. I had go the library every single lunch time. It was a safe haven. No body bothered me here. No body wanted to know how I was dealing with the Cullens leaving. No body wanted to know the details about Edward's and mine break up. Everyone in the library were in there to do their work and read, they didn't care about trivial things. I finally felt at peace and alone. Deep down, I knew being by myself wasn't the best way to deal with the pain and suffering. It just wasn't. Maybe if I was alone I could collect my thoughts and think and process the whole ordeal. Maybe, maybe not.

When I was alone, my mind often ran. What was Edward doing? Was he seeing someone else? Was he happier without me? Was he in pain like me? I couldn't stop these thoughts. It was toxic and self-centred, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

A few more days had past. I made my way into school, by now, everyone had stopped looking and talking about me, they paid me no second thought. In my own bubble, I was oblivious to everyone around me and what was happening. It wasn't until I turned around to leave, when I was the most captivating purple eyes. My eyes drifted and I saw there was more in the group. Their eyes were different and unique. Two had the most captivating purple eyes, that drew you in, right to the point where you almost could bump noses with them. Whereas the other two had the warmest amber eyes, that lit your ever soul on fire. As if my eyes had a mind of their own, I gazed at them from a distance until they disappeared into the office.

My mind was still reeling from seeing the new group. They seemed familiar to m, but I knew I had never meet them before in my life. You could never forget eyes like that. They were just too unique. I shook them out of my mind and started to walk towards English. After I had found and sat down in my seat, I pulled out all of the materials that I needed and started reading further in to the book.

The book we were reading was _Macbeth_ by Shakespeare. I loved the book and everything about the book. Everyone knew I was a massive nerd for Shakespeare. I could ramble on forever about the craftsmanship and the different themes and ideas that the play had. My personal favourite was

the consequences of ambition. I was already well a head of the class, finishing up act five should be a breeze.

"Class," the teacher stood up in front of the whiteboard. Next to her were two new students, because of their eyes, I knew instantly they were the same people I saw just before class. My eyes meet purple once again. "We have two new students, Ares Catio and Viktor Mitzou."

I was able to look at the pair of boys in more detail. They both had pale skin. Viktor had more strong, chiselled features, with dark hair and deep amber, brown eyes. Ares on the other hand, had more gentle features with high cheek bone and slim nose, his hair was light blonde and sat just on his shoulders, his eyes were captivating in their purple, almost violet shade. Everything about Ares was pulling me in, more than when I first met Edward.

The teacher handed them the book we were reading, and it quickly snapped me out of my daydream. The pair of boys quickly took their seats at the back of the class. They were quite as they started to do the work on the board. During the class I felt like someone was constantly tapping on my mind. It was though they had a tiny pickaxe and was trying to get into my mind. I brushed it off and tried not to think about it as I continued on with my work.

Nothing else happened. As it turned out I didn't have any other classes with the new kids. At lunch, I was found once again tucked away in the library. Last period past in a blur, I was too busy thinking about the purple eyes to see or hear what the teacher was saying.

It wasn't too much of a surprise when I saw that Charlie was yet to come home, its wasn't new. The thing that did surprise me was the blur in the forest that I saw again on my way home. I hoped and preyed for it to be the Cullens, but I knew better, it where ever they were, they were well away from Forks at this point.

I sat on the couch in the living room, reading the new book I had just gotten out from the library earlier that day. I heard a car pull up the drive-way, I checked the time and saw it was six-thirty, Charlie would be home. I re laced back into the couch and continued on with my book.

"Bells," Charlie called out, probably expecting me to upstairs. He made eye contact with me on the couch. "I've brought dinner." He held up a paper bag, no doubt filled with take-outs.

We sat around the flat screen, Charlie had the news on. There was nothing really happening in the world. The weather forecast flicked on the screen, rain and over-cast days, nothing new in the forever, dreary Forks.

"How was school today?" Charlie put down his now finished burger and reached across the coffee table to grab his can of beer.

"Fine." I curtly replied. It was my go-to. When ever someone asked how I felt, I just replied with 'fine'. It was easier to say that, rather than someone questioning you and what is going on in your life. I did feel a little guilty saying it to Charlie. He was genuinely asking how my day went, and I gave him a short and curt answer.

"There is a new family in town."

"I saw them at school today. They seem like nice kids."

"As long they don't cause any unnecessary problems, we will get along quite fine." Charlie took another sip of his drink. Awkwardness was growing between us. I had been in Forks for over a year now, and I still hadn't gotten used to have conversations with Charlie. With that in mind, I quickly finished my dinner and took all out rubbish in the bin.

"Night!" I called out as I walked up the stairs to my room.

"Good night!" Charlie called back.

When I made it to my room, I raked a brush through my hair and got changed into my pyjamas. I pulled back my comforter, and snuggled into bed. For once in a long time I wasn't plagued with nightmares about Edward, but I just continued to see Ares and his purple eyes.

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 _ **A/N: As promised, I have the first edited chapter here. You will notice there are some line that are the same and some that are completely different. I enjoyed writing this and it has given me major inspiration to finish the book. I actually started work at 6:30 this morning, so my day has been a little crazy, but its nice to sit back after a long day and write.**_

 _ **I almost fell asleep while writing this, but I was determined to finish off this chapter. I will mark all of the edited chapters as I write them. If you have any ideas for the story, I'm all ears. Spoiler alert: There will be NO love triangle in this story. I loathe love triangles, on of the many reasons why I can't stand the Twilight series. Bella and Jacob will have a close friendship, but that is all. In NM, Bella ends up forming a close friendship with the wolf pack, so I want to include it in this story.**_

 _ **Anyways, Ash out.**_


	3. Seeing You (Edited)

**Chapter Two: Seeing You**

 **BPOV**

* * *

Days had past since I saw the new kids. You would see them around school, interacting with people, but they always stuck to themselves. They reminded me of the Cullens in that sense, but they weren't one to shy away from human interaction. For a fleeting minute, I thought they could have been vampires. They were always together, their skin stark white and they didn't go outside often. My theory of the new family in town being vampires was quickly debunked, I had seen Viktor and Ares come to school on one of the rare days that it was sunny in Forks. They didn't shy away from the sun, nor did they sparkle. I had asked Charlie if there were any reports on animal attacks in the area, so far there were none. They may of not been vampires, but I knew that they weren't exactly human either.

You could say I had finally gotten over the sudden leaving of the Cullens. But on thing was sure, I wasn't over Edward. I as still upset on the way he left me, and why he left me. He had also denied me of what I wanted, to be one of them, to be able to walk into a room and not have Jasper trying desperately to restrain himself from sucking the life out of me. We had been through so much, Edward protected me from becoming a vampire. I was changing, and he stopped it, he sucked the venom out of my blood stream. To say I was annoyed, was an understatement. I wanted to be one of them, but when the chance came, Edward took it away from me. Carlisle thought it was for the best, so I believed him and left it at that. I couldn't help but think, if I was changed into one of them, they would have no other choice than to take me with them. We could have been one big, happy, vampire family.

When I finally arose from my bed this morning, I realised I was running late for school. I ran around the house like a headless chicken, I wasn't sure if what I was wearing matched. It didn't matter. Stumping my way down the stairs, I spied the clock and saw I only had a few minutes before first period started. Kicking myself back into first gear, I raced around, grabbing my breakfast and forgetting my lunch I had made the night before. On my way out of the door, I grabbed my bag and homework that was on the coffee table.

By the time I had made it on the road, I was late. So, I saw no point in me rushing to school. It wasn't like I was missing out on anything important, with all my time spent in the library, I was well ahead in most of my classes. I was completely sure that my first period class was trigonometry, which was easy anyways. It was quiet as I drove through Forks. There was a few people out on the streets, but not an awful lot. I pulled into school, and like I expected there was no one out, they were all in class, where they should be, where _I_ should be.

I ran through the halls, not really caring about anyone. I skidded to a halt in front of my locker, I threw my bag in an grabbed my books and a pen for trig. I was quick to start running again, I was running even fast than before, I was hoping not to trip over. I was too focused on not tripping over that I didn't see or even hear anyone in the hall before it was too late. A hard – what felt like a wall – person crashed into me. I fell ungracefully on the floor; my books and papers flew across the hall's floors.

"I'm sorry about that mon amour." The voice sounded heavenly. It felt like I could just sit there and listen to it all day. Not to mention that the voice had a slight French twang to it. "Are you alright?"

Looking up I was meet with the most stunning purple eyes. I soon recognised him as the new boy, Ares. "Oh, yes. I'm fine." I flushed at the boy.

"Thank the Lord," Ares praised. "I'm not sure what I would do if I had hurt you mon amour."

I wasn't really one for pet names, or nicknames (even though I preferred Bella over Isabella). But I decided to let this one slide. I enjoyed it.

"'ere, let me help you." Ares said. His accent started to come out more French than anything else.

Naturally, I was curious, I could swear he was French. Not that I had been to France, but Renee watched a lot of French romance movies. Before I aware of anything the words escaped from my mouth. "Are you French?"

"Ah, well spotted, I grew up in France before I moved." Ares replied.

I flushed at his answer. Typical Bella right there, speaking without thinking. Great. I probably just made myself look like a fool in front of the new guy. I couldn't help but feel my curiousity grow, was his whole family from France? Or was it just him?

Ares helped me up. I felt a slight jolt when he held my hand. In the briefest moment he held my hand, I felt safe and complete. As soon as I stood up he pulled it back so fast I almost didn't see it. I also noticed that his hand was unnaturally cold. It was cold like Edward's. I couldn't help but think that he was a vampire. But I looked up at his eyes once again, but they were purple. I remembered Edward telling me that vampires either had golden, amber coloured eyes, like his family, or striking red eyes, like James, Victoria and Laurent. So, there was no way that he could be a vampire. Not to mention it was particularly cold today, so, it was understandable that his hands were cold. I looked down and saw that Ares was picking up all my books.

Ares stood up with the books in his arms. "Would you allow me to walk you to class?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure mon amour?"

"Very." I put my arms out for him to put my books in my arms. Ares sighed and placed the book delicately in my arms. As he did so a look of sadness flashed in his eyes.

"Well I must bid you farewell." Ares turned on his heel and quickly started to walk down the hall.

Regret flooded me as I declined his offer. I shrugged my shoulder, when I did decline, he seemed to move pretty fast away from me. With a speed slower than before, I walked into my trig class. I had gotten into class with fifteen minutes left of the period. My moment with Ares must have gone longer than I expected. The teacher asked me for a late pass. I mentally slapped myself, I apologised to the teacher. He left me off lightly with a warning, and the threat of detention if it happened again. The class was learning something I had learnt a few days ago, but the teacher came around and gave me some more advance work to do, and if I didn't finish in class, he expected it to be finished by tomorrow.

The bell rung, meaning that first period was over. The teacher quickly dismissed the class and I left. In the corner of my eye I could see that Jessica was making her way over to me. I tried to make my way into the crowd, so she couldn't see me.

"Bella!" She called out. Now I knew that I had to stop and talk to her.

"Jessica." I said as I looked at her.

"Do you want to sit next to each other in chemistry?" I sighed. I could just say no and sit at the back of the class like I have been since before I started going out with Edward.

"Sure, why not." I replied. I knew I was going to die. I had successfully avoided Jessica. I knew that she was going to ask what happened to me and Edward. Sometime during the school year, I knew that someone was going to ask and want to know.

Trying to get to chemistry was a nightmare. Everyone had flooded the halls in hopes to get to their next class. Jessica and I tried in vain as we tried to make it through the crowd without bumping into anyone. I clutched my books closer to my chest in hopes for me not to drop my books. The wave of people parted like the Red Sea when Ares, Viktor, Julia and Marie. They seemed like they were untouchable as everyone wanted to be them, or be with them. Ares made eye contact with me, he gave me a flirtatious wink and a cheeky smirk. My cheeks instantly heated up and went, what I could only presume as bright red.

"Okay, so, wow," I heard Jessica stutter. "Are you and him . . . like a thing?" Jessica whispered into my ear.

"No!" I instantly replied. I felt my heart twang at me staying that. "We just bumped into each other in the hallway."

Jessica laughed. It was common knowledge that I was a clutz and could really walk in a straight line without tripping over my own feet. We had safely made it into the chemistry class, Jessica chose a seat towards the back of the class, no doubt so she could gossip without being noticed by the teacher. She gave me a friendly smile and looked to the board as the teacher started to write notes. The teacher drowned on about organic compounds and what tests are used to tell them apart. I wrote down all of the information as the teacher wrote it, not waiting to miss anything. Work sheets were handed out and it allowed us to make light conversations about what we were working on. Jessica put down her pen and turned to look at me. I knew exactly where is was going. This was the chance that Jessica was waiting for.

"What went down between you and Cullen?" She asked me.

I sighed. I really tried to think of different ways that I could get out of this. But nothing came to mind. I knew Jessica would keep on asking until I gave her the answers that she was looking for. She reminded me of Alice in that particular way.

"He was moving with his family, and he decide to break it off with me." I explained to her. It was more or less what happened between us, minus all of the supernatural talk and how Carlisle was ageing and all of that crap that he had told me.

"Couldn't you have tried a long-distance relationship?" Jessica turned to me. I looked over at her worksheet and she had finished all three of them that the teacher had given us.

"I tried to convince that us breaking up was a bad idea, but he rambled on about how he wasn't good enough for me."

"He was obviously not good enough for you if he left you." Jessica smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

I returned the smile and carried on with my work. Jessica put her hand up and asked for more worksheets to finish. It was nice to have that small conversation with her. Some part of me wanted to defend Edward, but another part of me didn't care.

' _He left you. He left you all alone, in the forest might I add. And didn't look back. He doesn't deserve you. You are strong Bella!'_ The voice echoed in my mind. I smiled at this and carried on with my work.

Lunch soon rolled around, and I quickly left my class to retreat into the library, away from everyone. I sat in my normal spot and pulled out my trig work that I need to catch up on. It was easy stuff. I understood most of it. I just had to flick back through some of my older notes to understand a few of the new concepts that I was given today.

The library doors opened, and someone walked in. I looked up but couldn't see the person. It wasn't like the person was here to see me anyways. And with that thought I turned my head back to my work and started to answer the questions.

"Mon amour!" I knew that voice. It was directed at me. It was the same person that I had stumbled into this morning. He looked exactly the same as he did this morning, except it looked like he had run his fingers through his hair a few times. "What are you doing?"

"My trig work." I snapped, I didn't want to be disturbed by anyone.

"Ah I see," Ares looked over my shoulder and at my work. "All those triangles and stuff."

"Yes. And I am busy with those triangles and stuff," I huffed at him. I really wanted to be left alone.

Ares said nothing and sat down in the spare chair next to me and just watched me. I should have been used to people watching me. But I wasn't. With Ares watching me I didn't feel creeped out in anyway. It felt more calming, like he was watching over me, ready to protect me from any danger that may come my way. It did confuse me a little. Ten minutes had past, and he still was watching me. I just ignored him and carried on with my work.

The bell rung, cutting Ares' staring session. Ares didn't move instantly, he sat there watching me pack up my books and pens.

"Would allow me to walk you to English?" Ares asked me.

"I'm alright." I replied.

"Are you sure? I would be no trouble."

"Yes, I'm sure." I pushed past him and left straight for my locker.

"Until next time mon amour!" Ares called out across the library. I looked and saw that most of the people in the library, including the librarian, have him glares for yelling in the library.

English was the last class for the day. It was pretty standard. I carried on reading Macbeth, answering the questions on the worksheet as I finished a scene. Some time in English, I felt someone staring at the back of my head, I didn't know who it was, but after lunch in the library, I could guess that it was Ares. It didn't creep me out, like in the library it had a calming feeling. Even though I was sure it was Ares, I didn't want to turn around and check, it would just make awkward eye contact. Before I knew it, I was on my way home. Every time I drove home from Forks, the distance felt shorter.

I was home in what felt like record time, I was alone when I walked through the doors, but that was normal. I knew Charlie wouldn't be home until later so I started to make an early dinner for myself. Charlie was more than likely to pick something up on the way home for himself. I whipped up a quick batch of mac and cheese for myself. To be on the safe side, I left a small bowl full in the microwave for Charlie, if he doesn't eat it, I'll take it as lunch for school tomorrow.

Sitting at my desk in my room, I started to do some more homework as I ate my dinner. With all of the school work I had been doing, my grades had suddenly gone up, not enough to rival Jessica's, but enough to place me near the top of my classes. I liked that feeling, and I was determined to keep it that way. I started my essay that I had to write and quickly finished and started to do some questions in my workbook for biology. At some point in the night, I had fell asleep on my desk, not making it to my bed. Funnily enough, the last thing on my mind was Ares.

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 _ **A/N: Here is another chapter! I'm really enjoying this, although I feel like I'm not editing per se, but kinda beefing up the chapters and adding some more little things. I've decided that I'll edit/update once a week. It just makes it easier for me, working a full time job and all.**_

 ** _If you didn't know at this point, last Friday (15th March 2019), there was an terrorist attack in_** ** _Christchurch. My thoughts are with all the families that are affected by this horrific event. If I'm completely honest, I'm still in a state of shock, this kinda of stuff doesn't happen here in New Zealand, and it's just a complete shock. So kia kaha to all of my Muslim brothers and sisters._**

 ** _I hope you are all well and safe._**

 ** _-Ash_**


	4. Ares Caito (Edited)

**Chapter Three: Ares Caito**

* * *

 _Ares POV_

The United States of America. The Promise Land. When I found out that we were moving to the states, I was little nervous. America was different from Europe. Europe was home, I was where I had lived for the majority of my 226 years of life. Of course I had travelled and had seen the world. It was difficult for my coven to travel. In my coven, there was eight of us, even though our coven was large, we treated and loved each other as family. We had done thorough research in the area in and around Forks. We had learnt there was suppose to be another coven of vampires here, who held a treaty with the local shapeshifters. But when we came here, it seemed like they had already left town. My adoptive father and co-leader of our coven, Ambrogio, apparently knew the head of the coven that used to reside in Forks. He said his name was Carlisle Cullen, I vaguely remember meeting him in Volterra. I was sure he was opposed to drinking human blood, and no matter how much we tried to convince him, he would never take a sip out of a human.

We had chosen a house on the opposite side of Forks. It was an older manor, and would have been one of the first houses built in Forks. The house itself was an old villa. According to the real estate agent, the house hadn't been lived in for years. Out of superstion, no one wanted to live in the house, but what could be more scarier than vampires? That was one of the many reasons why we chose this particular house, so we would remain undestiubed by humans. We didn't want to draw more attention to ourselves than nessary, so we all decided it was best to drink from blood bags. We had all killed humans in our lives, it was just something that we accepted.

I walked into the bathroom in the house. It was an overly large bathroom, with its own separate bath and toilet. There was no point in owning a bathroom, we had no need for a toilet or shower. I opened the top draws and reached in and pulled out a clear container. In it were contacts. In an attempt to appear more human and not to atrack any unwanted attention, we thought that colour changing contacts would work better than our otherwise piercing red eyes.

"C'mon Ares!" Viktor called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Get your royal ass down here! We are going to be late for school."

At normal human speed, I ran down the stairs. I heard Ambrogio and his blood-brother, Perseus, talking to us all.

"Try and not be reclusive, mix and mingle with everyone." Perseus said.

"My powers only stretch so far, so don't be crazy. I can hide you from the sun, but everything else is up to your to control." Ambrogio told us firmly.

Viktor put his hand up like a human child in school. Ambrogio frowned, but nodded for Viktor to start. "Can we befriend the humans?" Viktor said with a massive grin.

"As long as you don't get attached, or reveal yourselves, then you may." Perseus replied to Viktor.

"Perseus and I will only be in Seattle, we don't want to get a call saying that one of our children has attacked another student." Ambrogio said. "I know you all have excellent control over your thirst, but if it gets to much, just leave the class. We would rather get a call saying that you have left class."

We left in the room and headed to the garage. We had all brought new cars when we arrived in the states. Money was a never ending perk in our immortal lives. I sat in the drivers seat and started the car. I hear the door open, and my sister, Marie, plonks herself in the passagener seat in the front. She was bouncing in her seat, more than eager to get to school. I shook my head at her childish antics, and drove to school. We got to school and everyone's attention shifted. Shifted to us. I couldn't deny that I loved attention, I felt at home, it quite often when I was growing up that everyone talked about me, both good and bad.

When I walked into school, I was meet with the most beautiful scent that I had ever smelt. My eyes quickly darted around the halls, looking for for the person. I thank the gods when I saw her face, she was standing by her locker, and was clutching her books close to her chest. I offered her a small smile, and gave her a firtatous wink to her. Her cheeks reddened, and my smile grew. I got a sharp elbow from Viktor in the ribs, I reluctantly turned away from her, but her captivating brown eyes, where imprinted in my mind. Vanilla and pine, two scents I could smell for a lifetime and still not get tried of it. There was something else about her, like a certain spice. I could only guess that would have been the scent of her blood. As appealing as her blood was, I had no desire to even comtemplate to drink from her. If anything, it was the exact opposite, I wanted to take her then and there and protect her from all that the world would throw at her.

We walked around the corner and into an office. The lady in the office, looked a little awestruck by us as we asked for our timetables. It was a thing that all vampires had possessed, vampiric charm. The charm we have makes it easier for us to trap our pray. It was something that often made me laugh, all the human tripping over themselves, and blushing if we make eye contact. I looked at my timetable and smiled, all of the classes that I had chosen were art and social science based. I was normally good at these subjects because history doesn't change over time, and nor does English. So, naturally, I was good at it. Sciences on the other hand were always changing. I would often struggle with the science-based subjects. History and English were by far my favourite classes. Mostly because I had lived through most of the topics that we had studied in history.

My classes were as normal. Introducing myself to the class, get given my books. People would stare at me or try and talk to me. I wanted to make friends, so I have them polite replies and tried to take a genuine interest in what they were talking about.

It wasn't until English that everything had changed. I walked into class and Viktor had followed closely behind me. I looked out in another dull class. My eyes roamed the students, all sitting in their seats and talking to their peers. Then I saw her. The girl that was in the hallway. I smiled at her, she on the other hand didn't seem interested. But in the class, I was able to see her properly. I had already noticed her brown eyes, but I didn't notice her long dark hair. Her skin was pale. Pale enough to rival my own. Looking at her skin alone, made me think she would make on of the most beautiful vampires. I instantly wanted to change her, but she didn't even know of our secret, she probably had things she wanted to see and do before she was cursed to live an eternal life. Like earlier in the day, I felt a hard elbow in my ribs. I looked and Viktor had a book for me. The teacher told us to take our seats, we walked to the back of the class and sat down. I could see the girl from the hallway a couple of seats in front of me. She was hunched over her desk and books and quickly writing out the notes that the teacher was putting up on the board.

"Stop staring at her. It's creepy." Viktor quietly whispered. It was so quiet that a normal human probably wouldn't have heard him.

"I can't help it." I was completely mesmerised by her and everything about her. I felt a pull towards her. I wanted to hold her in my arms, I wanted to kiss her lips. I craved just to spend a moment with her.

"I thought your parents would have raised you to not stare at young girls." I ignored Viktor.

The bell rand and the girl from the hallway had quickly packed up and disappeared. If I wanted to I could easily find her in this small school. As primitive as it sounded, I could sniff her out. But I decided not to, like Viktor said, it's creepy. I got out of class and followed Viktor to meet up with the rest of our family. Marie and Julia were talking about the latest fashion trends hot from the runway in Milan when we met up with them.

"Hello sœur." I said to Marie. Marie was the only one in my family that I was actually related to. When I was turned I asked Ambrogio if she could come with us and be turned at a later age. He agreed but stressed that if she came she would be turned no matter what, unless she wanted to die. Marie agreed to Ambrogio's wishes and asked if she could be turned by me at the age of eighteen.

Viktor walked straight to and wrapped an arm around her waist. Julia joined our family just after the first world war. We were staying with the Volturi and Julia was found fighting off a rouge vampire. Aro asked if Julia wanted to join their ranks, she declined because she found that Viktor was her mate. She was more than happy to come with our family and stay in many different countries in Europe with us.

The group of us made our way into the cafeteria. We grabbed a tray of food each and sat at an empty table. Everyone watched in wonder as we took our seats. We paid them no mind and carried on with 'eating our lunch'. It mostly consisted us moving our food around our plates to make it look like we had eaten something.

The rest of the school day past, just like the rest of the day. I came home and sat on the couch. Viktor came and sat next to me. He said nothing and just looked at me. I ignored him and grabbed the TV remote and started to watch TV. A few shows had past and Viktor was still looking at me. For vampire's time had no meaning. We could sit somewhere and just sit there for a couple of hours before we have realised that time has passed. Most of it is because we don't need the internal body clock, like what humans have. As we don't really need any basic human needs time just slips away on us.

At about three in the morning, I went up to my room and started to do the homework that I needed to do. As we are vampires living in a human world, Ambrogio and Perseus gave us the option of either going to school or getting a job. I have never been a working kind of person, so I just go to school. I always chose subjects that I know I am good at. And I know if my grades were terrible, Ambrogio would pull me out of school and make me find a job. Even if its flipping burgers at McDonalds.

The world has changed with all of the foods. Fast food has become popular as well as different cuisines that are popular, I regret not being able to try it without throwing it back up, or actually tasting it. It has been a long time since I have last tasted food, I can't even remember the last meal that I had as a human.

The next few days at school flew past. I learnt the girl's name that I saw in the hallway. Isabella, or Bella as she preferred it. Either way her name was beautiful for an equally beautiful girl. I also found out that she was residing in the library most lunch times. I had decided at least once this week I was going to visit her in the library.

It was only first period and I was walking fast to my car. A girl in my class had cut her finger on a piece of paper. Heeding Ambrogio's words, I left the class and made a beeline to my car. I normally had excellent control over my thirst, but not drinking for more than a few days can break ones self control. We always had blood on hand, especially in public places. Every time I thought of Bella, my control would slip. But like before I had no desire to drink from her. She felt more than a blood singer. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, that I didn't see anyone in front of me until it was too late.

Looking down, I saw the person on the ground was Bella. I instantly felt horrible, but I felt relief when she wasn't harmed. There was just paper scattered around on the ground.

"I'm sorry about that mon amour." I replied instantly. "Are you alright?" I was very concerned about her wellbeing. She didn't appear to be in any discomfort, which was a relief.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine." I saw her blood rise to her cheeks. I could her loud heartbeat, it was like it was echoing down the hall. But despite my thirst, I still didn't want to drink from her.

"Thank the Lord!" I praised. "I'm not sure what I would do if I had hurt you mon amour." Not that she needed to know, but I knew exactly what I would have done, I would have plead for her forgiveness. And the very thought of her not forgiving me for something was frighting. Her wellbeing was all that mattered to me. I knew how fragile human life cold be, especially compared to the strength of a vampire. "'ere let me help you."

"Are you French?" I heard Bella blurt out. I smiled.

"Ah, well spotted. I grew up in France before I moved." I smiled down at her. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth. Bella appeared to be more observant than she let on, which was one of the many things I liked about her. Bella's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Without thinking, I reached down to carefully pull her up. Once my hand touch hers, I felt an electric shock from her. Her warm hand in my cold one felt amazing. If holding hands with her felt like this, I could do this for all eternity. I craved to feel more of her skin, I couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if I kissed her. Realising that I had been holding her hand for a little longer than normal, I quickly pulled my hand away, faster than any human could move. She looked up into my eyes, looking like she was trying to figure me out.

I quickly averted my eyes from her and bent down to pick up her books and papers. "Would you allow me to walk you to class?" I asked her once I had finished picking up all of her books.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure non amour?"

"Very." Bella has put her arms out for me to place the books in her arms. I sighed and gently and delicately put the books in her awaiting arms. I felt sadden by her rejection. Suddenly, I remembered my thirst and why I was out of class.

"Well, I must bid you farewell." I turned on my heel and walked away from Bella as quick as I dared. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked down the hall, it wasn't until she turned to walk back to class that I felt her gaze come off me. Once I was sure that she had gotten to class and there wasn't anyone in the halls, I ran the rest of the way to my car. I opened the trunk of my car and grabbed a drink bottle that was filled with blood. I was quick to drown down the blood in the bottle, once I was finished I tossed the empty bottle back into the car and reached for another bottle to take with me. We often carried opaque bottles filled with blood, it made it easier to drink around humans and it was less conspicuous than drinking straight out of a blood bag.

It wasn't until lunchtime that I wanted to see Bella again. I had heard she normally seeks refuge in the library at lunch, so that was my first stop. When I opened the door into the library, I had opened it a little harder than I was meant to. Everyone turned to look at me. I gave them a small apologetic smile to everyone in the library and hoped I didn't get kicked out for the disturbance I had just caused. I scanned through the library, I couldn't see her, but her scent was defiantly potent. I followed my nose, much like a dog, and found myself in the back of the library. Sure enough, I saw Bella sitting by the window doing her homework.

"Mon amour!" I called out. She looked up from her work. "What are you doing?" I make my way around the table to have a look over her shoulder.

"My trig work." She replies most instantly.

"All those triangles and stuff." I peered over her shoulders to see her working out an equation. Her calculator was sitting underneath her arms as she rested them on the table to look up and look at me.

"Yes. And I am busy with those triangles and stuff." She huffed at me. I could see that I wasn't really welcome here. She was so intent on doing her work. But I knew there was something about her which I didn't know about her.

I pulled out a chair and ungracefully sat down in it, with myself leaning forward on the back of the chair. My eyes were instantly drawn to her. She looked too beautiful sitting there focusing on her work. She looked like she was about to tell me to go away, but she was silent and carried on with her work. With my sharp hearing I heard the bell ring and Bella almost instantly started to pack up her books and pens. I craved to spend more time with her.

"Would allow me to walk you to English?" I turned to ask her.

"I'm alright." She replied.

"Are you sure? I would be no trouble."

"Yes, I'm sure." She pushed past me and started to leave the library.

Before I knew what, I was doing I called across the library. "Until next time mon amour!" I felt everyone turn and look at me in the library. The librarian came up to me and glared at me.

I turned and made it back to my locker to grab a pen and book for English. I came into the class and saw that Viktor was already at his desk at the back of the class. I took my seat next to Viktor and watched as everyone filed in for class.

"Where were you at lunch?" Viktor asks in a hushed voice. I ignored him. Bella soon came into class. She was one of the last people in. I couldn't help but stare at her as she came into the class. "Ah, that's where you were."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing."

I couldn't help but stare at her beauty. I had been around for over 200 years and her beauty pales in comparison to most of the women that I have laid my eyes on. Class was over and done with and we were all on our way back home. I pulled in behind Marie and saw Ambrogio and Perseus already home. Which was strange. We all hoped out of our cars and ran into the living room where everyone was.

"Why are you home Ambrogio?" I asked as I sat down on the couch.

"I got a call from Rhia after lunch," Amrogio said. I looked in Rhia's direction. Rhia was Ambrogio's wife and my adoptive mother. "She has sensed another vampire in the area."

"Now you kids said that the Cullens had past." Perseus came into the room and stood next to Ambrogio.

"Yeah, all the kids said that they have moved, and we couldn't see them ourselves." Julia said.

"Is it a rouge vampire?" Viktor asked as he came up to stand next to Julia.

"I don't believe so, there has been no mentions of attacks." Ambrogio stood in the centre of the room with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Perhaps it is one of the Cullens." Perseus said.

"It could be but stay on high alert. We don't why they are here." Ambrogio concluded.

* * *

 _Better late than never. I know this is like... months late. But I've been emotionally recovering from Endgame. This is quite a beefy chapter. In my old A/N, I said my French translations would be a little off, they still will be. Google Translate is good and all, but its not 100% correct, and it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. I'll try and hammer out another chapter in another few weeks._


	5. Red Eyes, Sparkling Skin (Edited)

**_Chapter Four: Red Eyes, Sparkling Skin_**

 ** _B POV_**

* * *

It always rained in Forks, nothing new. It rained so often I found myself forgetting what the sun shine looked like. The rain tapped on my window and the wind whipped against the walls of the house. Charlie got called to the station today. Today was Sunday, today was supposed to be his day off. I didn't really care much what Charlie did. But I couldn't escape the fact I hated Sundays. They were just another nasty reminder of another week to come. I turned my head to the untouched pile of homework on my desk, most due on Monday.

I had the same dream again. The ever occurring dream about being left behind by Edward in the forest, then James and Victoria come out of the shadows and attack me. Then Edward come over the top of me and finishes off the job. I wake up in the night, frightened and scared out of my mind. I muffle the screams of terror. I do not want Charlie to know. He can never know. It's hard with the dreams. I can't tell anyone. No one could ever understand. And I defiantly can't expose the Cullens, whether if someone believes me or not. Most people don't know of the supernatural.

We're in October now. Over a month since the Cullens left. A month since the new family came into town. Charlie told me the heads of the family, Ambrogio and Perseus were lawyers. Big lawyers. He said they could work for the top law firms in the world, but instead, settle for working in the DA's office in Port Angeles. Reminds me of Carlisle.

Edward still plagues my thoughts still. Like a bird of prey, it would come the thought of him would come out of nowhere and attack. I'm trying to move on. I really am. I've started to make attempts on sitting out with everyone in the cafeteria again. It's nice and it takes my mind off Edward. Everyone seems happy now I'm interacting with them again.

Occasionally I bump into Ares. He's nice and polite, better than most guys at my high school. He apologises, calls me beautiful and offers to walk me to my classes. Its rather sweet. Although through all of this, I'm blushing. When ever I see him, I feel all my blood rush to my cheeks, they probably look like a baboon's butt. I decline. I have no idea why, but it hurts me, like a stabbing feeling in my chest. Every time I think about being with Ares, the experience with Edward hits like a freight train and I reel back, the pain and hurt Edward caused me, was agonising.

It's still Sunday. With nothing else to do, I spend the whole day in bed. It was nice, watching the rain drip down the window. Charlie came home, and out of habit, came up stairs to check on me. I franded sleep. When the door opened, I shut my eyes and quickly rolled over and hoped Charlie didn't see me awake. He must have not see it, Charlie closes the door softly behind him and walks away. I open my eyes and look around my room. I look over at my clock. 5:30.

I got up and closed my curtains. I as I closed them I thought that I saw someone standing by the tree, but I blinked, and they were gone. They had striking red eyes. I knew it was a vampire. But who? Was it Victoria? I thought it could be Alice, but Alice has amber eyes, not red. Were there other vampires in the area? Did they hear that the Cullens had left and came to claim the territory? Why did I feel safe when looking into those eyes? There were all these questions and no answers.

To my great relief, the vampire in question was not Victoria. But the thought alone sent me into a spiral. If it wasn't Victoria, then who was it? There was a positive side, my dreams didn't float around Edward any more. Instead I was in a dark room with the same red eyes staring back. It should have made me unsettled, but the more I thought of the eyes, they held a warmth to them and made me feel safe.

School started in a couple of hours. The rain and thankfully cleared up over night, but Forks still appeared to be overcast and misty. The weather was only bound to get worse, it was fall after all. I got changed. My style had changed a little since Edward left, I managed to introduce some colour back into my wardrobe. Starting with my parka jacket I brought from a thrift store. I was a tad oversized, but fit in a good way. It was a light mustard yellow. With the days getting colder it was a nice addition, it was more than enough to keep me warm. I also had brought a pair of black sneakers.

When I had finally made it down the stairs, Charlie had papers from a case he was working on for the past few days. There had been a disappearance. A teenage boy only a year younger than me. The last time anyone had last seen him was Wednesday last week.

"Have you found him?" I walked past Charlie and started to make my breakfast.

"Yeah. It turns out he ran away from home and was staying in a hostel in Seattle. I'm just finishing up the paperwork for this case." Charlie explained. "I'll make dinner tonight Bella."

"Sounds good." I walked past Charlie with a piece of toast in my mouth and an apple in my hand. I bent down by the stairs to pick up my backpack.

As dangerous as it was, I kept looking up at the sky, constantly checking the weather. I really hoped it would become clear later in the day, but we're in October now, so its probably just wishful thinking. I pulled into the school parking lot and saw Ares leaning up against his car. There was other people walking through the parking lot and it became a challenge trying not to hit anyone. I leaned over to the passenger seat and pulled up my backpack. I tossed my apple in the bag before I got out of the truck and swung the bag over my shoulder. I slammed the truck door shut and start the walk into school.

"Mon amour!" Ares called out and ran up to me, before I could turn and walk the other way, he latched himself onto me. "How are we today?"

"Great until you came along." I bitterly replied.

"Oh your words wound me so!" Ares dramatically stopped in the middle of the hall and placed a hand over his heart.

"I highly doubt that." I carried on down the hall.

Everyone was looking again. I turned to look and saw Ares following me. With everyone staring at me I clutched my books closer to my chest and looked down to the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. If anyone knew me well enough, they would all know I hated attention. I was hoping after the Cullens had left I would be able to blend into the lockers and carry on with a normal high school life, but things never work out for Bella Swan. The attention was back because Ares was hanging around me, but it wasn't just him. His whole family were trying to get to know me. I carried onto my locker. I put all my books away and pulled out the books I needed for the next class. Ares kept on asking me questions. I hated questions. That meant they were interested. I didn't want him to be interested in me.

"What is you most favourite colour?" Ares came and draped an arm around my shoulders.

"Forest green." I replied curtly in an attempt for him to leave me alone.

Then it was silent between us. The silence was good.

"Nice jacket." Ares commented. Everyone started to look at us as both Ares and I made our way through the school.

"Thanks."

As I came up to my class, I managed to slip away from Ares and walk into biology. I was quick to get my books out and start writing in the date and the few notes the teacher was writing on the board. My mind shut off once the teacher started to talk. I paid no mind to what the teacher was staying, but I was copying down the notes he was writing up. I looked down at my handwriting, it was slightly messy from the normally nice cursive writing. I liked my handwriting. Rene likes it too. I haven't heard much form Rene in the past few weeks. I'm sure she knows that me and Edward have broken up. Charlie probably told her. I've sent Rene emails, text messages and left voicemails. But Rene always replies with she is busy with Phil and she'll try and talk to me when she has the chance. When I came up to Forks she wouldn't stop calling me every single day. She wanted all the information of my life in Forks. Now, she called every two to three weeks. It's nice I suppose. I don't like many people to be attached to me. I like being alone.

The bell rang for next period. I was just as quick to pack up my things and make my way over to my next class. Trig was fun. I had the whole period to do nothing. I had already finished the worksheet we were supposed to be doing today. Although the test from last week did come back. I got a B, not too bad.

By the time lunch had came around, the clouds had lifted and it was sunny outside. It was nice. Most of the school were sitting in the sun and lounging on the grass in the sun, trying to soak up some vitamin D before the sun disappears again. I had weaved my way through the grass and array of students to make my way over to a picnic table by myself.

I was half expecting Ares to come outside. I saw him and his family standing by the windows looking out on the people outside. Ares looked at me, he stepped closer to the window. The sun shone down on his face. I swear that I saw a thousand diamonds come across his face. He was beautiful. But as soon as he stepped closer he was gone. The rest of his family followed closely behind him.

For the last few periods of the day, I was trying to figure out what I had saw. I swear I wasn't going crazy. The complete rational part of my brain was telling me, it was a trick of the light. That I was sleep deprived and was making connections with things that weren't really there. But there were other things strange with Ares. He was cold skinned and seemed to have great reflexes. Now I can add shimmering skin to the list. My mind jumped to the supernatural. Vampires. He ticked off most of the list of 'vampire characteristics', but there had been no attacks since they've came and their eye colour was different as well. Maybe they could be a human/vampire hybrid, but vampires can't procreate. Their colour did astound me. They were neither typical human or vampire eye colour. For the rest of the day, the thought of Ares and his family plagued me.

A few weeks had past and I was now home alone on a Saturday. Charlie had been called down to the station to deal with a couple of people that had tried to break open the ATM in town. I was up in my room, attempting to finish my English homework. But like the past few weeks, my mind had been plagued with the thoughts of Ares and his family. Macbeth was obviously not an enough of a distraction for me. I pushed myself back from my desk and drew my attention to my bookshelf. My eyes past some of my more favourite books, Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice. I finally found a book. It was old and must have been one I brought from Phoenix with me.

I fingered through the book, I skimmed through a few myths. The name Ambrogio stuck out to me and I started to read. I knew Ares' father's name was Ambrogio. Was I so desperate in finding out who is Ares that I was now going to read about a myth thousands of years old? My mind screamed out yes as I flicked through the story. The myth told the story of a man called Ambrogio, who turned into a vampire-like creature by Apollo for loving the same women. The women's name was Selene.

Now I knew I was crazy. I was so desperate to find out about the truth of Ares' family that I had made a connection with a myth. Did I want him to be a vampire so much that I was willing to believe a myth? I didn't know what to think of myself. Had I built up some delusion about Ares being a vampire?

I slammed the book shut and aggressively threw the book on my desk. Frustration built up inside me. I didn't know where to put it, so I threw my pencil case onto my bed. Whether I liked it or not, my mind was set on the truth of Ares being a vampire.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Well my friends, I live and I'm back! I've had sudden inspiration to finish this story. I'll continue editing the chapters until all 13 (?) have been done! I'm not sure how often I'll be posting._**


	6. Chapter 5 - Halloween

_Chapter Five: Halloween_

 **BPOV**

* * *

My mind was on a constant reel. I couldn't believe that Ares was a vampire. I could safely presume that the rest of his were vampires as well. It was currently a Friday night. It was also the end of October, so Halloween was closing in. There was a Halloween party somewhere in town tomorrow night. I'll probably not go. Parties have never really been my scene. I had finished my homework. I stood up from my desk and made my way over to the bookshelf in the corner of my room. There were many books on the shelf. My fingers ran over the spines carefully. I took in all the titles. Nothing was coming out to me. My eyes drifted down my book shelf. The Quileute legends book that I had brought under a year ago stood out.

I pulled the book out and sat on my bed and read through the book. I remember when I first brought this book and because of this book, the events that followed. I read through the legends. I liked some of them. They felt empowering, they made my feel like I could do anything I wanted, and no one can stop me. I reached the first legend about the cold ones. I soon slammed the book shut. I didn't want another painful reminder of Edward.

I like to think that I'm stronger now that Edward is now gone. The pain will always be in my heart. He was my first love. But clearly it wasn't meant to be. I felt tears come to the corner of my eyes. No matter how strong I portrayed myself, I was still a wild mix of emotions. I would jump to angry, sad and happy in a heartbeat. I knew I needed to talk to someone about it all, but no one understands the pain.

I grabbed my well-read copy of Romeo and Juliet. The front three pages started to come out. I really needed to buy a new copy of the book. But I couldn't bring myself to do so. The book held so many memories. It was my 'gateway drug' into the world of classic books. I was well into the first act when my phone went off. I reached over to my bedside table. It was a text from Jessica.

' _r u coming 2 the prty 2mrw?'_

Was I going? Did I want to go? The old Bella would have said no and sat up in her room and re-read Romeo and Juliet for the hundredth time. I needed to go. No, I wanted to go. It would be fun.

' _yes.'_

I wondered what her reply would be. I sat by my phone waiting for her reply. Nothing came. I sat up and picked up my book and carried on reading the book through. I heard a reply a little later. I picked up my phone which was next to me.

' _k its a dress up prty_.'

Great. I'm already having second thoughts about this. I didn't have a costume. I had no idea for what I could be, or what I wanted to be.

' _ok, where is it?_ '

I had noticed in the time that I had been friends with Jessica she was quite fond of using text language. I wasn't really into that sort of thing. I didn't really see the point in shorting words down. I found it an inconvenience.

' _mikes_.'

' _ok._ '

It was official. Whether I liked it or not, I was going. If I didn't show up, Jessica would probably come over and pick me up and take me there anyways. I looked over at the time, it was 9:30, Charlie is still probably up, watching a game on the flat screen with a can of beer.

I made my way down the stairs and into the living room. Sure enough, Charlie was sitting there watching tv.

"I'm going out with Jessica tomorrow night." I told Charlie. He couldn't tell me not.

"Okay. Do you have the pepper spray that I gave you?" He turned and looked at me.

"Yes."

"Good. I want you back at a reasonable time. Will 11 be good?"

"Yeah it will be fine."

I walked upstairs and went straight into bed.

I awoke the next morning and tried to think of a costume idea. I had thought of taking Charlie's uniform and wearing it myself. But I knew that he wouldn't want me to do that. It might break his 'code of conduct' or something like that.

Most of the day had past and I still hadn't thought of a costume idea. I had finished Romeo and Juliet and was well into Wuthering Heights. When I had past over the book of Dracula and thought it would be funny (for me at least) if I went as a vampire. Jessica had also texted me earlier this morning and told me the party was starting at 6:30.

It was now nearing 6:00. I decided it would be best if I started to get ready. I had decided that I was going as a vampire to the party. I had asked Charlie if he could pick up a pair of fake vampire fangs from the dollar store as well as some fake blood.

When I left for the party, I was wearing some of blackest clothes and had the fake fangs in. They felt weird. They were like a mouth guard, but they were plastic teeth with fangs. I also dropped some fake blood down the side of my mouth.

I liked how I looked and decided it was time for me to go. I drove into town and saw that the party at Mike's was already in full swing. I saw cars lined up the front of his house and various cars parked on the front lawn.

I looked and saw a black SUV parked just around from his house. I knew that Ares would be there after all, it was his car. I instantly felt like turning around and driving back home. I felt a little silly being dressed up as a vampire. I parked my car on the opposite side of the street from Mike's and sat in my car. I quickly took out the fangs and wipe the fake blood from around my mouth. Luckily, I had by mustard yellow jacket and put that on and went to the party.

Walking up to the house, I saw people standing outside the house in groups, all drinking from red plastic cups. I really hoped to fine someone that I knew. I opened the door and saw that Jessica was already drunk and dancing with Mike. Jessica had a sheet wrapped around her like a toga. She had her hair pulled back by a golden leaf clip. She looked like a Greek goddess. I realised that I could have dressed like a Greek and wore a toga. We had white sheets in my room, so why not. Mike was dressed like Frankenstein. He had a black wig on, with bolts coming out his head, as well as green face paint.

Jessica saw me standing in the doorway and made her way over to me. That was quite funny to watch. She slurred apologises as she walked into people by mistake.

"Bella! You made it." Jessica came up to me and gave me a hug. "Here," she grabbed me by the arms and dragged me into the kitchen, stopping by the fridge. "Have a drink." Jessica opened the fridge and picked up an unopened bottle of alcohol. I took from her and opened the drink. "Well I have to get back to Mike. Bye!" Jessica turned around and made her way back into the living room.

I stood in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar that they had and slowly drunk my drink.

"Mon amour, I didn't expect to see you here." I turned around to see Ares make his way into the kitchen. Just like his car, his costume seemed very expensive. He was dressed like some prince from back in the 1700s. He had the coat, pants, shirt, vest and shoes to go with it. "Do you like it?" He asked as he came and sat next to me. "I thought about wearing a wig, but that would be a little too much."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the idea of him wearing a wig, he would suit it. Viktor soon walked in. He was dressed quite differently from Ares, he was wearing a worn coat with a sword attached to the hip, as well as slacks and knee-high riding boots. The pair of them looked like they had just stepped out of a time machine. Their costumes seemed so authentic, that you could almost mistake them for the real thing.

Julia walked in and was wearing an ankle-length dress that was a deep emerald colour and was very loose. She also had a hat that went with it. Marie, Ares sister, was wearing something that was very much identical in the expense and fashion of Ares, except she was wearing a dress, a very large dress. She reminded me for Marie Antoinette. The whole family looked like they had stepped out of a time machine.

"I wasn't expecting a family reunion in the kitchen." Ares laughed.

"Frére, we were looking for you." Marie said.

"I'm fine. You can all go and enjoy the party." Ares said the last part slowly and all his family walked out and went to enjoy the party. "Sorry about that Mon Amour."

"It's alright. Can you please stop calling me that?" I asked.

"What? Mon Amour." Ares smirked as he slowly said it with the words rolling off his tongue with ease.

"Yes. And stop." I said a little firmer. I wasn't looking to start anything with Ares. Regardless that he was a vampire. It wasn't that idea that made me uneasy, I just didn't want to get dragged into another lot of vampire drama that would lead me to leaving Forks and my father, again. After my thought of me not wanting to be with Are, my heart stopped a little, a brief lot of pain came through me, but quickly disappeared.

"Do you want to come for a walk." Ares leaned into to me.

"Where? Around the block?"

"Well, yeah it's the only place that we can go." Ares leaned in even closer.

I'm not sure how that conversation ended, but I ended up alone with Ares in the middle of Forks, late at night. All the shops were closed. It was quiet in Forks and it scared me a little. A cold breeze came in through the town and I pulled my coat around me tighter. Ares noticed this and took his coat off and placed it around my shoulders. I was short compared to him, the ends of his coat were falling well below my knees.

"Thanks." I muttered.

"No problem."

Silence fell upon us again. We had been walking in silence for a while now. It was nice. I felt safe around him and it wasn't just because I knew he was a vampire and could easily snap anyone's neck that came close to us.

There was the Olympic National Park on the eastern side of Forks. And so, there was a lot of forests surrounding Forks. Ares and I past the Elk Creek. There was a lot less houses and more forest as we walked down the road. I stopped just after the creek. Ares took a few steps in front of me before he realised that I wasn't following. He turned to look at me.

"I know what you are." I whisper. He's a vampire, I knew he heard me.

"I'm not quite I follow you." He said in disbelief.

"You're a vampire." I stated.

Ares froze on the spot. I could almost see his mind ticking to try and avoid the whole situation. "I suppose there is no point in avoiding it."

"Did you bring me out here to suck out my blood?" I questioned.

"No."

"You're lying."

"I'm not." Ares said. "I would _never_ to that you. I would rather _die_ than cause you pain."

* * *

 _ **Here's for another chapter! I'm sorry for the very late update. I've finally found a job at a café, and I have been working there for the past week and a bit. It's full time and I'm on a roster, so update days may change. I'm still aiming for two a week, but if not, one a week.**_

 _ **In the next few chapters I'm hoping for more of Ares and his family's history to come out. I've had to consult a timeline of all the major events that have happened in Twilight. I thought the book were the span of a few years. It turns out it all happens within a few years. Like Bella and Edward first meet and just over a year, they are married and have a baby on the way.**_

 _ **I've got ideas for this story already. But I would love your input! I have been asked if Jacob will appear in this story, and the answer is yes. I love the pack and Jacob so much, so they will be in the story for sure.**_

 _ **As always thank you for your reviews and feedback! I love reading new reviews as they are posted!**_

 _ **Ps - This story is also on Wattpad as well. My username on Wattpad is the exact same as here. As for all my social media accounts that I have (tumblr, pinterest and intsgram!)**_


	7. Chapter 6 - Family Ties

_Chapter Six: Family Ties_

 **BPOV**

* * *

I had many questions for Ares. I told him this, he said okay. He ran me back to his house. We came to his house. His house was massive. It was an older house. Not like the new, modern house that the Cullen's had. No, this was possibly one of the oldest houses in Forks. It was very nice to look at. I loved it.

"If you're wondering, we are the only one's home." Ares put me on the couch in the living room. Or what I presumed was the living room. The room seemed big and dark, I had no idea what was on the walls or where any furniture was. "I realise that you have 100 questions, but I will try and answer them all."

"How old are you?" I blurt out.

"226 years old."

"Are you seriously that old?" I'm in complete disbelief. I thought he was younger. Never that it came to me, on how old he is, or how old he could be.

"Yes. Any other questions?"

"Do you all have powers?" I wondered how similar this new vampire family could be to the Cullen's.

"Some of us. My adoptive father and uncle have powers, Ambrogio and Perseus, Ambrogio's wife, Selene, Viktor, Marie and myself." I'm now truly interested in this family. It seems like the whole lot of them were gifted.

"How old is your adoptive father?"

"Close to 3000 years." I couldn't believe that. I didn't even know that there was a vampire on the earth that would ne that age. "Perseus is close in age to him as well."

I went through the questions and Ares provided me with an answer every time. I liked this. Ares was very open about this family with me. More than what Edward were. He was very reluctant for me to question his vampire nature. Ares turned to me and looked me in the eyes.

"How did you figure us out?" He questioned. I suppose it was natural for him to wonder such a thing. I should tell him, after all he did answer my questions.

"There was a vampire family here before you called the Cullens. You could say that I was close to them, quite close. I knew their secret and everything. Then they left." It was a little painful to talk about them. They played a huge roll in my life in the past year and with them just leaving so suddenly hurt me a lot.

"So, they just went?" Ares moved in closer to me.

"Yeah, apparently they had been here for too long and people started to question Carlisle's age." I explained to him.

"Carlisle?" Ares looked like he was trying to figure out his name.

"Yeah, do you know him?" I really wondered if Ares' family did know the Cullens, as much as I wanted to move on, I could see them one last time and demand the reason why they left.

"I spent some time with him in Volterra." Volterra sounded familiar. Very familiar.

"Volterra?" I questioned.

"That's where the Volturi are." Ares explains to me.

I have a sudden flashback to where Edward was explaining some of the laws that vampires lived by, and the Volturi enforced those rules to the vampire world. In the vampire world they were one of the most feared covens.

"They control the vampire world?" I summarised my thoughts to Ares.

"Nicely done. They are considered like vampire royalty. There are three kings, Marcus, Aro and Caius. All every powerful and dangerous." Ares paused and then carried on. "Ambrogio is quite close to Aro, they met in Italy together and travelled together for a bit until Aro met Marcus and created the Volturi."

I nodded at this new information. It was crazy to think that Ares' family was quite close to the family that control the vampire world.

"I think that's enough for one night. I'll tell you more about my family and me another time." It was quite late. I looked at the time and saw that it was nearing midnight. Ares offered if I wanted to stay here and he would run me back home later tomorrow. I agreed and sent a text to Charlie that I didn't want to drive home, and I was staying at a friend's house. He said it was alright if I came back tomorrow before dinner.

Ares took me upstairs and into one of the bedrooms. He told me that this was one of the guest bedrooms. It was a light green on the walls, with white curtains. The bed was an old brass bed, with a floral pattern on the comforter. And the room had white furniture with golden accents all over it.

"If you need anything in the night, just come into the room right next to yours, its my room and I'll be in there for most of the night." Ares left the room and came back into the room. He soon came back into the room with a change of clothes in his arms. "Here is a shirt of mine and a pair of Julia's tights. Good night mon amour."

Ares gave me the clothes and left the room and turned out the lights as he left. I saw that the bedside lamp was still turned on. I quickly got changed into the clothes that he gave me and closed the curtains. I hoped into the bed and it felt soft. I just melted completely into the mattress. For people that couldn't sleep, they could really choose a mattress. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

I awoke the next morning and saw that the curtains were pulled opened and there was a breakfast tray on the side table. I saw there was a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon with toast. There was a folded note on the tray as well.

 _Mon Amour,_

 _We could hear you waking up, so I ran up some breakfast for you. We have also washed your clothes and they are on the end of your bed. If you don't feel like wearing your clothes, we can find something for you in someone's wardrobe. My whole family is home and would like to meet you. They won't hurt you, but if you don't want to meet them they will leave you alone. If you want a shower, the bathroom is the room straight opposite yours. It has all the towels and toiletries that you need. If you need anything just call my name and I'll be there._

 _-Ares_

I read through the note a few times before I put it back on the tray and pull the tray onto my lap and sat up and ate my breakfast. I looked outside and realised the house was on a hill. I couldn't really see much last night. But with the sun lighting up the grounds, they looked beautiful, just like the house. I finished my breakfast and left the tray on the bedside table. I got out of bed and made the bed after me. It wasn't as nicely made like when I came in last night, but I made the bed. I picked up my clothes and walked across the hall into the room opposite mine. Just like the note said, it was the bathroom. There was a small pile of clothes on the basin with a note on top of it.

 _Mon Amour_

 _Julia ran out and got you somethings that you may need._

 _-Ares_

I looked down and saw there was a pair of kickers, socks and a bra. I was truly thankful, I didn't feel right with having a shower and then putting back on dirty clothes. To me, it kind of defeats the original purpose of being clean after a shower.

I soon finished my shower and got changed. I hung my towel on the back of the door. I opened the door and walked out into the hallway. I saw the stairs, beside the room that I had stayed in. I was able to take more notice about my surroundings. I saw old paintings on the walls. They were all beautiful. I might not be a painter or talented in the arts, but I knew a pretty picture when I saw one. I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at the wooden floors. The floors looked perfect. They were varnished to perfection. I carried on down the stairs.

In the foyer of the house there were even more paintings. I vaguely remembered how to get to the living room and made my way there. The room was impressive. The Cullen's house was modern and fresh. Ares' house on the other hand was modern, yet old. In the corner rested a grand piano, the thought of Edward playing the piano flashed in my mind, but the image and though were gone as quick as they came. Also in the room there were a few bookshelves and couches, I could only presume that these were the couches that Ares and I sat on last night. There was a grand fire place in the living room, above that was another painting. However this one was grander than the rest. It was in a golden frame and it was the portrait of a women. I walked closer to the picture and saw that in the corner it was signed 'Vinci'. I stood there for what felt like hours, wondering if Leonardo Da Vinci could have been the person that painted this picture.

I felt someone looking at me. I turned to see Ares standing at the door on the other side of the room. He smiled at me and made his way slowly over to me. He stood next to me and looked at the picture with me.

"Who is that lady in the painting?" I turned to ask Ares.

"That's my adoptive mother, Selene." Ares' also turned to face me.

"Did Leonardo Da Vinci actually paint that?"

"Yes, Ambrogio was quite close to Da Vinci." Ares paused for a beat then carried on to explain. "Ambrogio helped him out with something and in return, Da Vinci painted the picture of Ambrogio's wife, Selene."

I nodded and silence fell peacefully between us. Ares turned around and walked towards the door. He gestured for me to come and follow him. I followed behind as he lead me through the house. There were even more paintings, in the corner I would look at the name, some of the names I recognised, others I did not. He lead me through a kitchen before we finally reached the back of the house. There, sat his whole family.

Two girls came running up to me. I knew them from school. They were Marie and Julia.

"It is nice to finally have another girl that I can talk to." Marie said. I knew Marie was Ares' biological younger sister, because they looked very much alike. I smiled at her. She reminded me of Alice in many ways.

"I'm Julia, but I think you already knew that." Julia said. "And because Ares is incompetent, this is Viktor, Ambrogio, Selene, Perseus and Elizabeth." Julia went around and introduced everyone to me. I awkwardly smiled at everyone.

"So Ares' told us you knew that we were vampires." Ambrogio came over to me.

"Yes, I was quite close to the Cullens before they left." I explained to Ambrogio.

"You are human correct?" Ambrogio asked me.

"I am."

"Did the Cullens tell you that they were vampires?" Perseus came over to me and stood next to Ambrogio.

"No, I figured it out. There were signs that I saw and my friend told me of the legends of the 'cold ones'." I quickly rambled off to them. I didn't want the Cullens to get into trouble, even though Edward left me.

"How typical, a half-arse job on Carlisle's part." Perseus stormed off and started to ramble to himself.

"What does he mean?" I turned to Ambrogio. I only had just noticed that Ares had came up beside me and looked at me.

"You told me that you knew that the Volturi ruled over the vampire world, right?" Ares suddenly spoke up. I nodded at this. "There is one law where if a human knew of us they would have to be killed or turned."

* * *

 _ **Here is another update! I hoped you like to learn more about Ares' family history. I do recall a few people asking whether Bella would be changed in this story and the answer is that I'm not sure yet. I have a plot and a direction on where I want this book to go in, but will she be changed on the way, I don't know.**_

 _ **I know there was quite a lot of mention of the Volturi in this chapter. I really do like the Volturi, the lot of them probably have to be my favourite characters in the series. So they will be mentioned in this story a lot.**_

 _ **As for the painting that I mentioned. I figured with Ambrogio being around for the amount of time that he has been around for, he would have 'bumped' into a lot of people. And I thought Leonardo Da Vinci would be one of them.**_

 ** _Word has also crashed on my computer so basic grammar and punctuation that it picks up will not be there. So if anyone has any good beta suggestions I'm open._**

 _ **As always your reviews and feedback are all appreciated.**_

 _ **Ps - I'm not completely sure if there will be an update on Wednesday, but there will be one in the weekend.**_


	8. Chapter 7 - To Be Or Not To Be

_Chapter Seven: To Be or Not To Be_

 **BPOV**

* * *

The words that Ares said rung in my ears. To be turned? Into a vampire? Did I want that? It appears that I really had no choice in the matter. It was either I get changed or I die. I'm not sure which one I wanted. To end my life or to live forever? There were so many questions that I had, that had no answers. Charlie, Rene, my friends, what was going to happen to our relationship if I were changed?

"Turned? Into one of you?" I mekely ask.

"Yes." Ares looked into my eyes. I knew that he could see the uncertainty rolling around in my eyes. "But the choice is up to you."

"I have the choice?" Edward never really gave me a choice in anything once I found out what they were.

"It is your life, what are we to say no." Julia came up to me and looked me in the eyes.

"Can I think about it? This isn't a decision that I can make over night."

"We will give you a few weeks. And if you want to be turned, we will agree on a date. Or if you wish to die, we will think of a scenario and we will kill you quickly." Ambrogio came back up and looked at me. I nodded. I could do that. It was understandable.

We all went back inside and we all sat in the living room. Ares, Marie and I shared a couch, Perseus, Elizabeth, Viktor and Julia shared a couch and Ambrogio and Selene sat in two different chairs that were next to each other. It felt like Ambrogio and Selene were the leaders. I suppose they were in a right. They were the leaders of this clan.

"Do you have any questions?" Ambrogio asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

I thought about this for a moment. There were many questions I wanted answers to. So I decided to start out easy. "How old are all of you?"

"I'm over 3000 years old," Ambrogio said as he pointed at himself. "My wife, Selene, is over 2000 years, Perseus is the same as me. His wife, Elizabeth is 456 years old. Viktor is 216 years old. Viktor's mate, Julia is 106 years old. Ares' sister, Marie is 220 years old and Ares' is 226 years old."

They were a very old family. But all of them didn't look a day over 21. I knew it was the vampire immortality that was the cause of that. But I hadn't meet any vampire that was older than Ambrogio. I thought that Ambrogio may have some signs of aging, but there were none. His red eyes weren't as striking as Ares' either, I wondered if the redness of the eyes became less intense with age.

"Ares mentioned last night that most of you had powers?" I was very curious about this.

"We all have the normal vampire powers, speed, heighten senses, durable. But there is a few of us that have special powers or gifts as they are commonly referred to as." Ambrogio explained. "Myself, I'm quite skilled in casting illusions. Perseus, can put up and take down shields at will. Selene is able to see someones weakness, physical or otherwise. Viktor is able to break through shields. Marie is able to detect liars. And Ares is quite gifted in compulsion."

I was more taken aback by the family. They were all very powerful, which meant the were all equally dangerous. The family then took turns asking me questions. How old was I? When was my birthday? What did I like?

During all the questions Elizabeth excused herself and made her way into the kitchen. She shortly came back with a plate of food for me. A sandwich, apple and cookies sat on a plate that she handed to me. She then placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of me. I thanked her for the food and then she smiled at me and took her seat next to Perseus. I slowly started to eat my lunch. The questions carried on and I told them all about my human life. I avoided mentioning the Cullens as much as I could.

I was now sitting up in Ares room with him. His room was just as grand as the rest of the house. He had a bed that was similar to the one that I had slept in the previous night, at tall set of draws, a desk and chair and a bookshelf. On his bookshelf there were many books. There were some that were written in different languages, and there were some books that appeared to be old enough, that if you were to pick up the book it would just fall apart. I looked and saw classic books on the shelf. I wondered if they were the first edition of the books. But the most impressive part of his room was his window. There sat an easel, below the window was a shelf that was covered in paint and had different types of paint, paint brushes, jars and paper. I never realised Ares was into art. And the next impressive thing was his violin that was sitting on his desk. It looked like it was a couple of hundreds of years old.

"How old is that violin?" I walked over to the violin and looked at it. The craftsmanship on it was amazing.

"274 years old." He replied without missing a beat.

"It's older than you!"

"It is. My grandfather played, and when he past he gave it to me." Ares explained. Ares was reading a book. By the looks of the book it looked like it was in French, so I had no hope to read it.

"What were you when you human?" I asked as I took a seat next Ares on his bed.

Ares sighed and closed the book. I could almost see his mind to determine a way out of this conversation.

"If-"

"I was-"

We both spoke at the same time and cut each other off.

"Sorry, you first." Ares said as he looked at me.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." I said with my head down.

"It's not that I don't want to, it just brings back some memories that I would rather forget." Ares tried to look me in the eyes, but I averted my eyes everytime. I heard Ares sigh and look away from me. "I was a royal." Ares finally says.

Royal? As in prince and princesses?

"I was born in 1780, nine years before the revolution." Ares explained. "My grandfather was brothers with King Louis XV, making my father cousins with King Louis XVI. My mother was from a highly respected noble family as well. It was nice living like I was. Everyone was nice to me, I had nice tutors that taught me everything about the world and more. But that all changed." Ares took a deep breath before going on. "My father, Charles XI, fell ill just after Marie was born. He ended up dying. It was just me my mother, Adalie, Marie and me. It was peaceful. We stayed in one of my father's holiday homes in the country, hoping to escape the revolution." Ares took a deeper breath as he explained some more. "The revolution was nearing its end. We heard that a man called Napoleon was coming and there was some talk among the remaining nobles that he would end the revolution. But in 1799, our front door was broken down. At the time, my mother, Marie and I were all in the drawing room. My mother hid us in the study. When the revolutionist came in, my mother was alone. She said that she had dismissed all of the staff and we were in hiding with our cousins in Austria. Our mother was beaten and then taken away from us. I never saw her again. Most of the people thought we were in hiding in the house somewhere, so we hid in a shelf that was behind a tapestry in the study. I'm not sure how long we were hiding for, never once did we speak, we were too afraid that someone would be in the study waiting for us to come out. Ambrogio found us. He came to me and asked if we wanted to come with him. We said yes. He told us to take whatever was of importance to us and then leave. We met Selene. He stopped off in an inn just in the small town. When Marie was asleep they told me what they were and offered to change me. And the rest so you say, was history."

I was taken aback. I was very much content with what Ares told me. I could see it was hard for him to talk about his past. It made me wonder if anyone else in his family came from a hard background like that. I smiled at him. He had to face something so terrible and he came out victorious. The scars will always be there. I felt like his ending was a little rushed. I had a feeling that he was hiding something from me. It wasn't really my business, so I didn't ask him. If he was a royal that meant his name would be in the history books? How couldn't anyone notice that it was him.

"Wouldn't there be someone in the world that would know who you are?" I asked him.

"There possibly would be someone. But since I was turned I've been going by my middle name. My full name is Charles Evander Ares de Bourbon, or Charles XII." Ares explained to me. "It was common in my time for French Nobles to use Greek Gods for names. Like I'm named after Ares, God of War."

Ares went through explaining all the different countries that he visited as he travelled with Ambrogio, Selene, Perseus, Elizabeth and Marie. Viktor was already turned went they met him, he joined them in 1815. During the First World War, Ares said his coven hid in Volterra with the Volturi and stayed there right up until 1956. He went around to his draws and pulled out a golden necklace with a V shining brightly on it. He then explained how the Volturi are like his second family. I learnt, that one of the kings, Aro, likes collecting vampires with powerful gifts, and due to how gifted his family is they are like 'honorary Volturi members' and often head out on missions with the others, he also said Ambrogio's and Aro's relationship help out a lot.

I looked at the time and saw that it was nearing four o'clock. I really needed to get home. I told Ares this and we made our way to the garage. There were many cars. A lot of cars. All of the cars looked and probably were expensive. On the wall there were sets of keys. There were a set of keys for all the cars in the garage. The keys had a little plaque which said the brand of car. Ares pulled a set of keys from one that said 'Porsche' plaque above it. I wondered what the car looked like. I walked through the cars with Ares and saw a lot of European car brands and symbols. The car on the end was the car we were looking for. It was a black Porsche.

"This is a 1950s 356 Porsche." Ares explained as he opened the door for me. "Ambrogio allows us to personally own a car, and this one is mine."

I slide into my seat and Ares closes the door behind me. The exterior of the car was a glossy black, while the interior was cream. Ares hopped into the driver's seat and tossed me a set of keys.

"Here are the keys for your truck."

I didn't catch the keys and they fell into the ground in a heap. I leaned forward and picked them off the ground. I looked over at Ares. He had amusement dancing in his red eyes.

"Do you lack hand and eye coordination?" Ares laughed at me.

"I'm a little clumsy that's all."

"Right." Ares drawled before he turned on the car and pulled out of the garage. He drove down the roads and made it to Mike's street. I turned to look at Mike's house and it was still a mess. Mike was standing outside picking up red plastic cups off the lawn.

He looked over at me and Ares. He waved at us and carried on picking up the plastic cups.

"Well this is where I leave you mon amour." Ares smiled at me. He reached down to my hands sitting on my lap and pulled one of them up to his lips. The moment he kissed the back of my hand, a electric shock went through me. It wasn't painful, it was comforting and I welcomed it. I blushed when he looked back into my eyes. "If you have any other questions just ask come and ask."

I opened the door and slid out of the car and made my way over to my car. I waved at Ares and he turned around and drove back to his house.

On my way back home my thoughts were swimming about the thought of being changed. Ares and his family were giving me a choice. Edward and his family didn't. I wanted to be a vampire so badly, but I don't think I could bring myself to kill another being, human or animal. The thought of leaving Charlie alone hurt. When I left when James was after me tore Charlie a part. I didn't think he would ever forgive me about that. But sure enough he did. I liked it in Forks. It was quiet and raining. Charlie didn't hover over you like Rene. I wasn't sure if I could leave it all behind when it came down to it.

* * *

 _ **So here is the chapter! I really wanted some of the members of Ares' family to come from different time periods. The idea of Ares being a royal plagued my mind for ages. I really wanted him to be a royal, especially in the French Revolution. They couldn't be too close to the actual line itself, otherwise it wouldn't really fit history.**_

 _ **As for their powers, I tried to make them as 'normal' as possible. I know Ambrogio's might be a little far fetched, I was going to give him different powers but then I remembered that Benjamin from the Egyptian Coven could use the elements. So I just went with my first idea.**_

 _ **As for them being 'honorary members of the Volturi', Ares had said that the Volturi were like a second family. Ambrogio and Aro are quite close together, and Ares and his family have stayed in Volterra many times over the past few years. Also with all of the different and powerful gifts that Ares' family has I figured Aro would want them in the Volturi, so thus them being 'honorary members'.**_

 _ **I'm hoping for the story to start to move forward a lot faster. But if it goes too fast, just tell me and I'll alter it a little bit.**_ _ **I'm not sure if there will be an update on Saturday, but I'll try my best. I would love your feedback and your thoughts on this chapter!**_


	9. Chapter 8 - Mates and Visions

_Chapter Eight: Mates and Visions_

 **APOV**

* * *

I was shocked to say the least about Bella figuring us out. We had tried so hard to stay hidden so no one could find out who we are. I knew that she wasn't stupid. Maybe we were the stupid ones. But it doesn't matter. She knows and its either to be killed or changed. I really hope for the latter. I would have loved for her to live a full human life and experience things, but she will either live forever or die. I wished for us to hid her away, but she wouldn't like that. Bella likes being free. Not to mention we'll have to go against the Volturi, which will not be fun.

Ambrogio came to me and I explained my emotional attachment to Bella. He said a similar thing had happened with himself and Selene. Bella was my mate. It all came clear to me now. And for my sake Ambrogio hoped for Bella to chose to be a vampire. The one thing that I loved about being a vampire was watching the world change. I had saw all of the different era's and phases the world had gone through. I found it interesting, and I can only hope that Bella would find it interesting.

I hadn't seen Bella in a while. She wasn't at school for the past few days and I was nervous. I knew it was the mate bond that was pulling me to her and making me worry for her. But even still, she was a friend and regardless if I knew of the bond, I would still worry for her. I sat in English watching the clock tick on and hearing the teacher ramble on about the revenge and madness that is in Hamlet. It was days like this I hated at school. Where it was the same thing over and over was the point where I would hate immortality. Bella normally made this class more bearable. It was more often than not she would be sitting at her desk quickly taking notes faster than the teacher could speak. Her scent would fill the room, it would make English quick and bearable.

The teacher dismissed us and I stood up and instantly left the class. I vaguely heard Viktor calling after me. I knew he was probably stuck behind a group of students, or Julia had gotten to him and started to quiz him on a thousand different things. Which was good. I was on a beeline to Bella's house. I walked out of the school and looked around there was no one in the car park. Good. I started to run.

It was quicker if I ran rather than drove. I stopped outside Bella's house. I started to think, Bella was probably think about what she would do, rather than her being sick or whatever. Nevertheless, I walked up to her house and knocked on the door. I heard Bella yell in a minute. She came to the door. She was wrapped up in a blanket and had a slight red nose. I instantly knew she had a cold.

"Ares! What are you doing here?" She asked me.

"You hadn't been at school for the past few days, so I was getting a little worried." I admitted as I looked at the ground.

"It's fine," she said quickly. "You can come in if you want."

Bella stepped aside and let me in the house. I looked around at the house. This was where Bella spent most of her days. She brought me over to the living room, there was many piles of tissues over the coffee table and I could smell a cup of ginger and honey tea. Bella sat down on the couch and I sat next to her. We started to talk about pointless things. Very, pointless things. What our favourite colours were, what type of music we liked, what was our favourite movie. It was nice. Nice to talk about normal things and not any supernatural problems that we were facing.

"Who is Julia?" Bella suddenly asks me.

"She is Viktor's mate." I turned to face Bella. She was still bundled up in her blanket. "We met her in Volterra, when we were staying there for the First World War."

"What is a mate?"

"You probably know them as soulmates. They are people that are meant to be together." I started. "As vampires our mate is our second half. We feel complete with our mates. It is rare for a vampire to find their mate. It took Ambrogio over a thousand years to find his and Perseus even longer. Vampires can't choose their mates, much like you can't choose your soulmate, but once they have found them they will do anything for them."

"Edward said once that we were meant to be together, forever." She admitted and pulled the blanket around her tighter and pulled her arms closer into her chest.

"Edward was probably was, what we call a bloodsinger." I looked at Bella, she nodded like she knew all of this already. "If he was your true mate, when he left you would have felt more pain than what you did."

I could see the tears starting to pool in Bella's eyes. She took big, shaky breaths, probably to try and stop the tears from overflowing. I couldn't help it, I had to comfort her. I pulled her into my chest and held her close. I could hear her little sobs that she was making. My arms tightened around her, but I had to be careful, I didn't want to harm her.

Bella broke away from our embrace and looked up at me. "Thank you." She muttered to me.

"You're welcome."

I was more than content with how things were between Bella and me. It wasn't what I would ideally like, but I was content. As I heard Bella talk about Edward, it made me want to rip him up and set him on fire. I couldn't let myself think like that. I had already done that once in my immortal life, I felt proud after I went on a killing spree. I had killed everyone that was involved in the death of my mother. Most vampires take what they have to and leave it at that, but I went and killed a whole village for killing my mother. I ripped the hearts out of humans, sucked them dry. I gave children nightmares about a red-eyed killer that came in silently in the night and killed a whole village. It wasn't my proudest moment. Marie wouldn't even look at me. Even then she couldn't stand to be around me for a like decade.

Bella hadn't moved since I had pulled her onto my lap. She had placed her head on my chest. It shocked me that she wasn't freaked out by my non-beating heart. I was then harshly reminded of Edward. I almost growled at the very thought of him. My frown deepened. I could hear Bella's breaths even out. I looked down and saw that she had fell asleep on my chest. Carefully, I stood up with her in my arms. I walked up the stairs and manoeuvred her around the railing of the stair so I didn't hit her head. I looked around the upper stairs looking for her room. I caught a faint scent coming from the end of the hallway, I could only presume that it was her room. I placed her on the bed and tucked her in. My phone buzzed in my pockets. I looked, it was from Marie, it could wait. I looked at Bella, she looked so innocent and calm asleep. It had been many years since I had to sleep, and I missed it. It was nice to relax your mind and put everything on pause for a little while. Before I left her I bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. The same electric feeling surged through me as my lips touched her forehead. Her warm skin, against my cold lips was a sensation that I could never explain. I smiled softly at her and then I left.

I was outside Bella's house when I caught the scent of another vampire. Whatever Marie wanted would have to wait. I was worried for Bella, why would a vampire come so close to Bella's house? I ran off in the direction that the vampire had ran in. I eventually made it to a clearing and saw that my family was standing on the opposite side and a short-haired vampire was standing between my family and me.

"Oh, Ares, how nice of you to finally join us." Julia drawled as I made it closer to the group.

"Julia." Perseus said in a warning tone.

I came around to stand with my family. I looked at the vampire, she had the most strangest of eyes. They were amber, I hadn't seen that specific eye colour since I met Carlisle in Volterra.

"What is your business vampire." Ambrogio asked as he stepped out closer to the female vampire.

"Until recently, my family had a permanent residence here-"

"Ah, so you are a Cullen." Perseus cut her off and came up to stand next to Ambrogio.

I growled at the mention of that last name. It was the Cullens that caused Bella the pain she went through. She was not welcome here. I did not care if she lived her previously. She moved away and we claimed the territory.

"Your the European Clan. You lived in Europe until recently. Perhaps I should tell you my name." She paused. "I'm Alice Cullen."

"Ah young Alice, you are a seer, are you not?" Ambrogio asked.

"Yes, and I'm just passing through." Alice said in an attempt to keep the peace.

"La connerie!" I called out. "I smelt your scent at Bella's house."

"I was just simply checking on her. I wanted to be sure that she was safe. I was having some," Alice stopped and contemplated her words. "Dreadful visions of Bella. I was simply seeing if she was alive and well."

"Now you listen here-"

"Ares, stop." Ambrogio cut me off and gave me a very unhappy look. "We can assure you that Bella is safe and no harm will come to her, but we need to ask you to leave." Ambrogio gave his reply like the diplomat he was.

"I'll just check on Bella one more time, then I'll go."

"Maybe, you miss-heard us, we want you gone now. You left and we claimed the territory in your absence." Perseus sneered at her.

"I will be gone. I swear. I just need to check on her!" Alice started to look around her surroundings. Julia and Marie were advancing on her. Alice started to desperately try and look for a way out.

She made an attempt to run, but Julia and Marie were too fast and stopped her but holding by the arms. Ambrogio and Perseus had a silent conversation. Ambrogio looked at me and nodded in my direction. I knew what I had to do. I walked over to Alice. Viktor walked up behind her and held her head, and harshly made her look up at me.

"This is how we deal with things in our family." I said as I placed my hands on her cheeks, and slowly ran them down to shoulders, I gave her a sickenly sweet smile. I could see her thinking that the worst would happen to her. It gave me more power. I almost laughed at her state, it wasn't near as bad as she was possibly thinking. I looked her directly in the eyes. "You will remember nothing of this encounter. You will return to your new home and never set a foot in Forks ever again." I stepped back and looked her. She blinked out of her trance; Viktor, Julia and Marie all loosened their grasp on Alice and she left, in the opposite direction of Bella's house and towards Alaska.

We all looked at each other and smiled. The problem was dealt with. By the looks on Ambrogio and Perseus' faces, this was the vampire that was hanging around a few weeks ago. The problem was dealt in a quick and quiet manner. This was often the reason that the Volturi would ask us to go out on serious missions with them. We helped deal with problems quick, quiet and efficiently.

We all went back home. I took a detour and made it to Bella's house. I jumped up the tree and looked into Bella's room. She was asleep, completely unaware the ordeal that had happened because of her. I smiled and left her be and ran off home.

I was up in my room when I heard footsteps up the stairs and a knock at my door. Marie opened the door and smiled at me.

"I heard you ran off to Bella today." She teased me.

"Yeah so what." There was nothing wrong on checking up on people.

"Did you tell her?" She asked me.

"Tell her what?" I was confused. Although, I did have an idea for what Marie was talking about.

"That she is your mate."

"No," I sighed. "I feel like if I told her she would feel obliged to be with me. I want her to be with me because she genuinely loves me and not because we are mates." I knew that the mate bond, would push her to me so to speak. But I wanted her to love me for me and not because of some bond that we share. I knew she just came out of a very emotion relationship, but maybe charming her isn't the best approach, I might have to try something different.

* * *

 _ **Another chapter bites the dust. It's been so much fun writing this story. I just want to keep on writing it forever. I felt like the conversation between Bella and Ares towards the start of the chapter was very misleading. I'm not even sorry if you all had your hopes up. I was originally was going to have him confess, but I feel like Bella is the sort of character that would be with someone because they were mates. I know because of that they intended to be, but she would love him for the bond and not for him.**_

 _ **I know this update is very early, but I'm going to be busy in the weekend and this is the only chance that I have to update! So I hope none of you are annoyed with the early update.**_

 _ **As for Alice, I just really needed her out of the picture. She isn't essential to the plot, but I needed her gone for a while. I do feel like during the Cullens absence in New Moon, Alice was probably the one that checked on Bella from time to time and tried to see her future.**_

 _ **I also want to congratulate myself, this is my first story that has made it this far! I often start stories and around the second or third chapter I lose interest. These stories are never posted, they are just a bunch of pages on word.**_

 _ **Thank you for the reviews and feedback. I love reading them. The offer still stands that if anyone wants to Beta this book or knows of anyone that would love to, then just message me! :)**_

 _ **Ps - Any books suggestions (fanfiction or published works)? I'm going overseas and would love a good book to read while on the plane.**_


	10. Chapter 9 - To Be

_Chapter Nine: To Be_

 **BPOV**

* * *

I was quite shook by Ares' impromptu visit. It shocked me to say the least. I wasn't planning for him to come over. It was pretty stupid for why I was sick in the first place. I had simply had fallen asleep while my window was wide open. I caught a chill and I had ended up sick because of it.

My mind felt like it had constant headache. I was plagued with the idea of becoming a vampire. It would make me strong Bella. Not weak Bella. I'll finally be able to slap Edward across the face and not break my wrist in the progress. Although it was Ares and his family that made me to make this decision, it was nice for Ares to come over. I really did appreciate his company. He made me feel complete.

After our conversation about Edward, I finally felt free. There was no reason for me to continuously pain myself over him. We just weren't meant to be. As simple as that. It left me wondering if there was someone out there who will love me and never leave me. Like how Ares had put it, a soulmate. I smiled at the thought of someone who will love me unconditionally and who will never leave me. I looked down at the essay that I was supposed to be writing about Macbeth. There was a bit of work that I needed to catch up on, but nothing serious. I had simply sat in the library and worked on the things that I needed to catch up on.

To the left of me laid a pad of paper. The paper had a list of the pros and cons about being a vampire. I had to really think about this. Ambrogio had came over the other day and fully explained what was to happen if I chose to be a vampire or die. If I had chosen the latter, they would let me finish high school, then they will kill me in the most quickest and humane way possible, they'll snap my neck. It didn't sound pleasing. If I had chosen to be a vampire, they would change me just before I graduate and they will teach me the ways of the vampire. But the thought of killing another human almost sickened me. Ambrogio had said there were alternatives that I could choose. I could survive of animal blood like the Cullens, drink from blood bags, which Ares and his family did often, drink from only the scum of society, or just kill unsuspecting humans.

The first two options were what I was leaning towards if I was changed. But even then, in my immortal life, I wanted to distance myself from the Cullens. So drinking from blood bags seemed like the logical option. I had wondered if anyone was suffering due to less blood bags, but Ambrogio assured me that they didn't cause anyone any harm when they did use the blood bags and always left sizable amounts of money as donations to the local hospitals in the area.

With blood put aside, there were many things in the world that I wanted to experience with my human life. One of the big factors was, I might decide to have children one day, but I wouldn't be able to have a baby. Although I wasn't the maternal type. But to have that option taken away from me, kinda shook me a little.

I looked over at my laptop and saw the time, it was nearing midnight. So I packed up all of my homework as books and placed them on a neat pile on my desk, closed my laptop lid and mayde my way over to my bed. I quickly tied my hair in a bun and rolled over and went to sleep.

It was now nearing the end of November. It was cold and the snow was starting to come in. With it being cold all the time, I thought of a pro vampire point, I will never feel the cold, I will be durable and strong. At school Ares has been spending more time with me. It comforts me. Although he has been flirting with some other girls, and I'm not sure why, but my heart breaks a little when I see it happening, I just wish it could be me that he was flirting with. Not that I would be able to say anything cute in turn. Because my best pick up line is: "Did you fart? Because you are blowing me away." And I don't like looking like some lovesick puppy.

I really wanted to get to know him better and maybe a relationship with him, but I was scared. Scared, that he was doing to drop me like a sack of potatoes once his father's age was being questioned. I never wanted to be left vulnerable like that again. Although I suspect the reason why Ares was with me more often in the past week was that my deadline was closing in.

I just hope whichever one I chose would be the right one. If I were to die, their would be people that would mourn me and miss me. But the same would happen if I were to be turned into a vampire. There would be no mourning, but my family would miss me. And though I'm not close with most of my family, it's would be hard to leave them and potentially never see them ever again. Not to mention that I would easily out live them all.

I was sitting in the library, rereading my old copy of Romeo and Juliet when Ares walked in.

"Mon amour!" He called out as he took a seat next to me. He scooted over and leant down to my ear. "Ambrogio wants you to come over tonight after school."

Ares promptly stood up and left the room. My eyes followed him out of the room and he walked away. Through the small window, I could see a small trail of girls following him. They all made me jealous. Some part inside of me wanted Ares for myself. But I shook the petty idea out of my mind and focused on what Ares told me. If Ambrogio wanted to see me, then he must want my reply. And then again my mind was sent into another battle.

School had finished and I hopped into my truck and starting to drive to Ares house. When I pulled up, the house looked scarier than I remembered, perhaps it was due to my nervousness about choose ultimately between life or death. The idea alone sent chills down my back. I got out of my truck and slammed the door loudly behind me.

The sun was behind the house which casted a shadow over the front of the house. It made the house seem very unwelcoming and it made me very unsettled. I walked up to the door and was about to knock on the door when it opened. Ares poked his head from around the door.

"I heard you coming mon amour." He said.

I walked into the house and he closed the door behind me and rested his hand in the small of my back. It was comforting. I loved the feeling of it. It felt like he was supporting me. Little sparks went through my body when he first made contact with my back. I was used to it now. The sparks didn't bother me anymore when he touched me. But it was like a kaleidoscope of butterflies were fluttering in my tummy. I did get this feeling with Edward, but it was never this intense. There have been a few times where Ares' has left me weak at the knees.

We walked through the house. I have been here a little more often since Halloween, and Elizabeth and Selene always make a point to have the cupboards fully stacked with food for me. I found it quite touching. Ares opened the door into the living room and only Ambrogio and Perseus were the only ones in the room. Both Ares and I took the couch opposite them. Ares still had his hand resting on my back, and I didn't mind.

"I'm glad you came Bella." Ambrogio smiled at me. It was an inviting smile and made me feel less tense about the questions that were to come. "You probably know why we asked you here." I knew. They wanted my answer. I attempted to keep my face blank of any emotion. "Which one have you chosen?"

"I want to be a vampire." I say without hesitation. I almost knew from the start that was what I wanted. It was basically living over death, and I wanted to live. I want to try a new life and completely forget about Edward and his family. I could have a new family that will take me in and teach me their ways.

Ares until now was ridgered, like he was expecting something bad to happen. But the moment I spoke those words, he became relax and fully allowed himself to sink into the couch.

Ambrogio and Perseus smiled at me. "Now we have already notified the Volturi about the decision that has been made. With much convincing on our behalf, you'll be turned into a vampire after you graduate school. This should give you time to. . ." Ambrogio trailed off trying to find the right words.

"Say goodbye, and we can tie up any loose ends that might occur." Perseus stepped in and told me. I nodded at all of this information.

"Also, in March, myself, Ares and you will be going over to Volterra. The Kings would like to personally meet you." Ambrogio said as he finished up the conversation.

I once again nodded at this information. Ambrogio and Perseus both stood up and went off to somewhere else in the house.

"Why are you relieved that I've decided to become a vampire?" I turned to question Ares and his strange actions about myself being changed.

"Um. . . Uh. . . Well you see. . ." I could see that Ares was startled by the question and was trying to figure out a way out of it. "In the past few months of knowing each other, I've realised that I like you. And for you not to be in my life anymore, I couldn't imagine it."

"Really?" I asked.

"Truly. And to clarify, I like you more than a friend should." He smirked at me as we came in closer to each other.

In the briefest moment our lips meet. It was the best feeling in the world. It was like the cliche moments in books when fireworks erupted from one single kiss. His lips move in sync with my own. It felt like we were two puzzle pieces finally connecting together and being solved. Although his lips should have felt stone cold, they felt completely warm against my own. This was different from went Edward kissed me. Edward held back a lot and I don't know why, but when my lips touched Ares' it was like a caged beast had finally came out. He kissed me with what felt like all the passion in the world. Like I was the only girl for him. He pulled away all to soon. His forehead rested against my own. It felt nice. I was very flustered by the events that had just happened seconds ago. His cold forehead felt great against my own hot forehead.

"Well I feel the same about you chéri." I whispered to him.

His eyes lit up and he pulled away from our embrace. "My, my mon amour, when did you start learning French?" He laughed.

"I just know a few words." I laughed back at him. It was true. Rene went through a phase of trying to learn French. I'm not sure how, but I was roped into it and we sat listening to instructional tapes about how to speak French. I never thought that I would ever use it.

"Well I can change that." Ares gently pulled me in for another kiss.

* * *

 **I apologise for the very late chapter. Last week was a bit all over the place for me, but I got there in the end. Some may have noticed that the rating on the story has gone up, its gone up for later chapters.**

 **But was this chapter worth waiting for? Please let me know!**

 **I figured that Bella could have been more reluctant to become a vampire, as the main reason why she wanted to be a vampire in the actual story was so she could be with Edward, but Edward isn't in this story, and (until recently) she wasn't really going anywhere with Ares.**

 **In terms of personalities, I've tried to have Ambrogio kinda like Carlisle in the fact that they both want to keep the peace and they are bloody good diplomats. Perseus on the other hand I wanted him more hot-headed and quite temperamental. So scentually they cancel eachother out.**

 **I've just upgraded my laptop so I'm going to try and write more chapters in advance. Also a little bit of shameless promotion, I do have an Instagram account and I have started to post on it more regularly. The username is pewterpotter. So yeah.**

 **I have been loving all of your feedback and reviews on this story!**

 **Ps - Just responding to a review that I only just got. Bella is not a Mary Sue character. Mary Sue by defenintion is** **"seemingly perfect fictional character, [whom] usually perform better at tasks than should be possible given the amount of training or experience." Bella is neither of these. If I had turned her into a vampire and then gave her all the power in the world, then yes, she will be a Mary Sue. The Cullen's did break the 'law' when they left Bella and didn't change her. The Volturi are purely just checking up on the situation. Besides that visit has greater plot importance. It has slightly angered me. And as for the two books recommended from me to read, though they might be good reads, I'm not going to read to in an attempt to maybe get inspiration. I find that a bit wrong and it's not how I like doing things. I prefer to have my own ideas in the story. Yes this story loosely does follow the storyline of NM. And just to finish off this rant, if you don't like my book then don't read. I'm sorry for that. I was just a little triggered because I have had a shit week, that's all.**


	11. Chapter 10 - Black

_Chapter Ten: Black_

 **BPOV**

* * *

It was now the start of January. Nothing really happened after Ares and I kissed. I would have thought that we would have gone into a relationship. But nothing has happened between us. We have been talking and hanging out with each other, but other than that nothing. I would love to know where we stand, but we haven't talked about our relationship much.

When we walked into school together it was like Edward all over again. Everyone looked at us as I got out of his car and his family followed behind us. It wasn't new to have everyone's eyes on me, but it did feel strange. Most of the girls were looking at me with wicked envy, which did beat the sad pitiful looks that I was getting from most people after I had broken up with Edward.

Jessica sat next to me in chemistry again and asked what was happening between Ares and me. As much as I wanted to lie and say that we were in a relationship, I could bring myself to lie, or make unnecessary rumors about me. So just told her the truth. I would still spend most of my days in the library, tucked away doing work or reading a book, but Ares more often than not is always trying to get me to sit in the cafeteria with him during lunch. There was a few times where I agreed and sat with his family. We talked about pointless things. Despite their age and what appears to be a disinterest in humans, they were quite knowledgeable of modern pop culture. I was talking about the new Pirates of Caribbean movie that had came out earlier in the year when a group of girls came to our table.

"My friend, Kate, was wondering if you would like to go to the movies on Friday night?" A girl came up to Ares. I was once again jealous. The jealousy that I would get if Ares was talking to another girl only grew after our kiss.

"Here's the thing," Ares said slowly as he turned to face the group of girls and flashed them all a smile that made most of them almost look like they were falling weak at the knees. "I'm busy over the next few weeks. And I'm not really wanting to go into a relationship yet."

That crushed my heart. I had finally moved on from Edward and he shot the girl down, but more importantly he shot me down without even knowing it. The girls left and once they had left the cafeteria, I quickly stood up.

"Uh, I forgot that I have a. . . tutorial with Mr. Varner." I packed my lunch away, threw my bag over my shoulder and made a hasty exit from the cafeteria. I aimless walked around the school. I wanted to change myself for the better. I didn't want to be weak Bella, I wanted to be strong Bella who wouldn't let a boy get the better of me. It hurt after Ares said that he didn't want a relationship.

I sat completely dazed in English. I could feel both Ares and Viktor's eyes on me. I robotically copied the notes on the board. It felt like I was running on complete autopilot. I just wanted out of the class. It felt like forever, but the teacher finally released us and I made a straight beeline to my truck. I just hopped in and drove off before anyone could see me. I pulled in at home and I was the only one that was home. What a surprise. I sat in the living room just watching the reruns of Spongebob Squarepants.

A few days past and it was now Saturday. I have almost gotten over the fact that I won't have a relationship with Ares any time soon. I was sitting at the table, reading another book that I had gotten out from the library the previous day. It wasn't even twelve hours after I had the book issued under my name and I was already halfway through it. Today was also a rare day. Charlie had the day off and he was spending it at home.

"Bella." He called out. I looked over at Charlie. "I know you have been making new friends, and that's good. But how about you see some of your old friends, like Jacob."

I haven't seen much of him in the past few months. I knew I was preoccupied by Ares, Edward leaving and my impending change to try and contact some of my old friends.

"You could do some good seeing him." He gently scolded me. "If that's okay." He quickly added on.

"No, no." I said just as quickly. "Seeing Jacob will be good. I really would like to catch up with him."

* * *

I walked into school in a few days later. I noticed that Ares wasn't here today. He could be running late, but he wasn't one to be running late. I ignored it. It didn't matter to me. I went through all my classes. My suspicions of Ares not being at school were confirmed when he wasn't in English. School soon came to an end and I quickly left to go home. I surprised myself, because of the speed I drove home at, it was a wonder that I didn't crash.

I also instantly buried myself into homework when I got home from school. I was too busy going over my calculus homework to hear Charlie pull up in the driveway. It wasn't until he came upstairs that I heard him.

"Are you home Bells?" Charlie called out to me.

"I'm in my room, doing homework!" I called back to Charlie.

"Okay, I'm going to start dinner." I heard a clunk of cans hitting the bench and a Charlie starting to cook dinner.

It wasn't long before Charlie called me down to dinner. We sat there in silence. It wasn't awkward. We have been living with each other for well over a year so silence doesn't feel awkward anymore.

"So Bells," Charlie puts down his knife and fork and looks at me. "Someone at the station was selling their old motorbikes. I was wondering if you would like to go halves on them with me and you can work on them with Jacob."

Bella on a bike. That was a dangerous situation, but add a motor to that? You would get a disastrous situation. But the idea sounded nice. It would give me something to do while I'm at Jacob's. We haven't spent much time alone, where it was just the two of us. It would be a nice place to escape from all of the supernatural/vampire drama.

"It sounds nice. I'll pick them up sometime this week, then I'll head over to his house this weekend." I smiled at Charlie.

The next day after school, I pulled up into the police station and parked next to Charlie. Charlie came out and took me around to the back of the station. I saw two old motorbikes.

"How much for the both of them?" I turned to Charlie.

"He only wants $150 for the both of them." I nodded and pulled out my wallet and grabbed the right amount out.

Charlie takes the money and helps me put them in the back of my truck. He makes sure that they won't fall off. He tells me that I'm free to leave. He also tells me that he would be late for dinner tonight.

* * *

The weekend rolls over and I have gotten Jacob's address from Charlie and was on my way over to his house. I smiled to myself. I was excited for this weekend. I couldn't wait to see one of my old friend. I pulled up to Jacob's house and he started to come out.

"Bella!" He called out as he walked down the ramp and came closer to me. "Charlie told me that you were coming over."

"Yeah, I wanted to catch up with some of my old friends." I called back as I hopped out of my truck and walked towards to Jacob. "I brought over some old motorbikes. I figured that you could fix them up and then we could ride them together."

"Sounds great." He smiled at me.

Jacob and I walked around to the back of my truck, where Jacob was already on the back and starting to take the bikes off. We wheeled them in together into his shed. There wasn't much in there. Just a workbench and tools all around the shed. There was no chairs that I could see in the room.

"Sorry, I don't have guests here often." Jacob said after he propped one of the motorbikes up. He came over to me and took the motorbike that I was holding and propped it up in the middle of the room. Jacob walked out of the shed and left me alone. I wasn't completely sure what he was doing. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the shed and looked around. The wood was all exposed and I could see what I presumed what was the weather boards. It gave the room and rustic feel to it. I looked down to my feet and saw that it was a dry dirt floor with a little hay spread around the floor.

Jacob came back with a chair in his hands. I smiled as he placed it right next to me. I sat down and watched as Jacob started to take a part one of the bikes. We just made small talk. Talking about what we have missed in each other's lives since we had last seen each other.

"How are the Cullens?" I felt like I heard some bitterness behind Jacob's comment.

I sighed. We were going here again? Everyone has asked me this question at least once. "I think they are good."

"Think?" Jacob said in doubt.

"Yeah, they left town a few months ago." I told Jacob. The look on his face, looked like he already knew this. For the reason why he was bitter towards the Cullens, I would never know. As far as I knew, the Cullens had done nothing to him.

We sat in the shed right up until the afternoon. My stomach growled and Jacob decided that it would be best if we stopped for lunch. We went inside and I made grilled cheese for both Jacob and I. Jacob quickly cleaned up the mess and we went back into the shed.

"Where is Billy?" I turned to ask Jacob.

"He's gone over to your house to spend the day with Charlie." Jacob replied without looking up from the motorbike.

Silence fell over us and Jacob worked diligently. I looked over at a clock that Jacob had on his work bench. It was nearing six o'clock. I decided to say goodbye to Jacob and go back home to Charlie. I promised Jacob that I would visit the next weekend. Jacob in return promised that he would try and have one of the bikes up and running before then.

I was driving home. I thought about the past weekend. It was nice to have a break from everything. It now felt like Jacob's house was a peaceful sanctuary that was miles away from Forks and all the drama that always followed there. I loved it there. We could talk about whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. I really did look forward to go back over there next weekend.

* * *

 _ **Another day another chapter. Sorry for the late update. It has been busy at work for the past week. On another note, I've brought a new laptop so there might be more updates coming.**_

 _ **Sorry for the rant on the last chapter. I was having a shit week and that review just iced the cake for me. I felt like I needed to defend my story. As I said with the rant, if you don't like my story, then don't read.**_

 _ **We are just under halfway through the story and I still have plenty of stuff planned. What has happened between Ares and Bella was actually inspired my one of my past relationships. Yeah some people kiss and then start going out, but others (like me) kiss and then nothing happens. Rest assure, that is not going to happen in this story. They are slowly are going to start their relationship.**_

 _ **I'm loving all the (positive) feedback! Please review, I enjoy reading your reviews.**_

 _ **As for a previous review, you asked how Edward (Dickward) was going to fit into this, he is going to do something stupid.**_


	12. Chapter 11 - Marie Caito

_Chapter Eleven - Marie Caito_

 **MPOV**

I watched as both Ares shot down the girls, and also crumbled Bella's heart in the process. I could easily see through her lie when she said that she had a tutorial with her teacher. I let it slide. I wasn't going to tell Ares of his mistake, he can figure that out for himself. I liked Bella, she looked like she had backbone. Not to mention she was pretty, and looked like she had a sensible brain. I could see the pain she had been through. We all could. We could never be able to relate to her, or the understand the pain that she went through. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I smiled and carried on to my next class.

Ares spent most of the weekend pacing, waiting for a call from Bella. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't want to call her. Not to mention that she had been ignoring him since Tuesday. Ares was on edge, he wanted Bella, but he didn't want to scare her off. To late for that. Ares eventually bit the bullet and called Bella's house. Her father, Charlie, answered the phone, but Bella wasn't home, she was over at her friends house.

Ares stormed off to his room and we all heard the door slam. It was a wonder that the door didn't break. He was my brother and I hated to see him like this. I wanted him to realise his mistake on his own and repair his relationship with Bella before it was too late. I started the ascend up to Ares' room. I wasn't sure what I would find in his room. I couldn't hear anything. It was dead quiet. He was probably quietly fuming to himself. As I got closer to his room I could hear Ares' soft paces on his carpeted floors. I walked into his room. He was pacing in his room. He had his elbow resting in his right hand and his chin resting in his left hand. He paced with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You're going to ware out the carpet at your pace." I pointed out.

"Centuries have past and you still haven't mastered the art of knocking." Ares replied sarcastically. I snorted.

"Centuries have past and you're still stupid." I bit back.

Ares sighed and sat down on his bed. He looked like he was going to cry. His eyes glazed over with unshedable tears. He looked absolutely torn with himself.

"Do you know why Bella is acting like this?" He looked at me. I wanted to tell him the problem then and there, but he wouldn't learn to recognise his own mistakes otherwise.

"Like what? A normal teenager girl of the 21st Century?" I took a seat next to Ares and smiled sadly at him. "I can say that she isn't impressed with you at the moment."

"But now she is hanging out with those shapeshifter." Ares said.

"The what?"

"Shapeshifters. They are the natives of this area, they can change into wolves at will." Ares explained to me.

"You know of this because?"

"The friend that she's with is Jacob Black. And he is involved with the shapeshifters. Ambrogio and I looked into them all before we came here."

"You just need to talk to her."

"That is quite the impossible task when she doesn't want to talk to you."

True to Ares' words, Bella didn't talk or come close to us for the next week and half. On Monday, she smelt faintly of wet dog, it was slightly offencive to the nose. Ares was now on edge. He would often follow her around. Too many times I've seen him standing in the forest that bordered Bella's house. He earned to be with her. He would feel like he needed her.

I can't say that I had much experience with mates and such. But when we stayed in Volterra, I had access to their library, they had many books that were written about vampires and our lives. The book that I read about mates was actually written by Marcus. I learnt all I knew about mates from the book. I knew if a person was away from their mate for a long amount of time, you start to feel a little twinge at your heart (providing you have met your mate in person).

I had contemplated a lot in the past week whether or not I should approach Bella on the matter. I would like to say, the thought of confronting Bella kept me up most nights, unable to sleep, but that would be a lie. It was on the foreground of my mind often though.

I had talked to Julia about this, she agreed with me. She thought that Ares needed to learn this all for himself. Viktor remained passive on the whole situation. He would however try and drop hints to Ares of why Bella wasn't talking to him, but he didn't catch on. We remained quiet on the matter.

By the end of the week I was sick of Ares mopping around like he has nothing to live for many more, so I decided to approach Bella. It was one day after school that I decided to see her. I had followed her home and she had walked into her house. I walked up and knocked on the door. Bella came to the door and opened it. I was hit with the overwhelming smell of wet dog.

"Maire!" She said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to come around."

"I just thought that I might pop on by to see how you are doing." I didn't even wait for her to invite me in, I just walked into her house. Rude, probably. After you have been around for a few centuries, you quickly learn that manners are not the most important thing in the world. I could just imagine my mother rolling in her grave at my thought. I had been trained to be a princess with impeccable manners.

"Yeah, why don't you just c'mon in!" I hear Bella mutter sarcastically under her breath.

I walked into her living room where the smell of the wet dog was most predominant. It was like it was embedded into her couch or something. "Come, sit. I want to talk to you."

"Would have never guessed that." I hear Bella mutter sarcastically once again. She still came and sat next to me on the couch. "What did you want to talk about." She turned to face me.

"I wanted to talk about Ares."

"Oh," Bella looked sad at the mention of Ares' name. "I don't really want to talk about that." Bella quickly became more interested in the floor below her feet.

"Look, I know my brother is a little dense at times, but you need to talk to him." I pressed on.

"I really don't want to be around him." Bella said seriously.

"I can understand that. But for both of you sake, you might want to talk to him."

"I can't just have someone kiss me then decide he doesn't want a relationship. I'm not going through that pain again." Bella turned to look at me.

"No one wants you to be hurt Bella." I said to her. "Like I said, my brother isn't the sharpest knife in the block. One would think that he would be smarter after living for a couple of centuries, but I think he got dumber. He probably doesn't know that his comment hurt you." I tried to reason with Bella. Ares would fall into despair if Bella doesn't start to talk to him soon. In the book that Marcus had written, he had said once your known mate is separated from you, the vampire would start to feel mild pain, like a dull headache. But that would soon intensify into something else and cause great pain to the vampire. Separation and rejection can cause some tremendous pain to a vampire, not enough to kill us, but enough to leave the strongest of us weak. It doesn't really work with humans, their minds don't recognise the mate bond. And are therefore almost immune to the pain and suffering which comes with separation and rejection, or so I have read.

"But what if he doesn't really want me and he is having a temper tantrum because I don't want to talk to him."

"I can assure that he really does want you. More than you would ever know." I tried once again to reason with Bella.

"If I talk to him at school tomorrow, what would happen?"

"He would probably apologise for what he said without a doubt."

I left soon after. I left Bella was she promised to talk to Ares tomorrow at school. I gave her a quick hug and left to go home. I had homework to do anyways. I parked my car in the driveway, when I opened my door, it hit the side of Ares' Porsche. I looked to see if there was any marks, there were none. I shrugged my shoulders and carried on into the house. I walked into the dining room where I saw Ares typing on his laptop. He looked up at me.

"Where were you." I asked me.

"You owe me." I threw my jacket on the backs of one of the seats and plonked myself in the chair next to Ares.

"What do you mean?" He looked up from his laptop and turned to face me.

"Your 'relationship' problems." I made quotation marks with my fingers when I said relationship. "You'll should find out what I mean at school tomorrow."

Ares growled at me and turned to face his work. "The relationship between Bella and I does not concern you."

"She is my soon-to-be sister-in-law," I smiled at him. "I want to have a good relationship with her.

Ares said nothing to me. He turned to face his work once again. "Can you help me."

"Sure," I instantly presumed that I had something to do with his and Bella's relationship.

"Why did the French Revolution start?" He asked me seriously.

"What?" He should know this. That was the very reason why our mother died and we are what we are today.

"I'm writing a report about the French Revolution for history."

Afterschool the next day, Ares came home a little later than normal. He didn't follow us home like normal anyways. I was hit with a familiar, sweet-smelling scent. A scent that I knew to be Bella's. I smiled as I knew that he and Bella must have talked through everything. They walked into the kitchen holding hands. My smile only grew as I realised that they were now a thing, and I was very happy for my brother.

 _ **Another day, another chapter. Sorry for the late update, I have been working all of the past week at work because we are short staffed and my bosses went away for holiday. With how much I'm working, updates will probably be limited to once a week.**_

 _ **I decided to write in Marie's POV (Ares' younger sister). It was quite fun to do so. It was my plan for her to help them get together in the end. Kinda like Alice, kinda.**_

 _ **In this chapter I talked more about the mate bonds. It's not so intense as the wolf mate bonds that are described in the Wattpad stories, but it's still there. The main reason in a vampire-human mate bond that the only the vampire feels the mate bond is because almost everything about a vampire is heightened (speed, smell, eyesight etc.) so I presume that the bond that are felt between people would be heightened as well. And this is also were I believe the vampire 'powers' or 'gifts' come from. That is why Ares' gift is compulsion, as a prince he would have told people what to do, and it manifested into a gift. The reason why Marcus also 'wrote' the book in this story is that he can see the bonds between people and probably has a deeper understanding of it.**_

 _ **Completely off topic, does anyone have some cosplay ideas? I have a convention that I'm going to and all my friends has there cosplay sorted and I'm still struggling to find someone to cosplay as. I was going to go as someone from Attack on Titan, but if anyone has any better ideas please tell me.**_

 _ **I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if you know anyone or want to beta read for me, please message me or leave a review!**_

 _ **On that note, I'm loving all the feedback that I have been getting. So please leave feedback, reviews, favourites, follows. :)**_


	13. AN

_**A/N: I know this has been a long time coming, but I'm back! (I'm sorry to the people that thought this was a chapter). My life has been a bit crazy for the past year, I started work I didn't have many hours like 15 a week, then I suddenly jumped to working 50 hours a week. I've also gone over to the UK for a holiday and I've decided to travel around Europe this August for two months!**_

 _ **I've decided to go back and edit the last eleven chapters. So I'll be doing that for the next few months. I'm hoping to edit at least one chapter a week. I'll be changing the plot a little and hopefully adding some more detail and fixing my grammar. I'm aiming for the new edited chapter one to be up sometime tomorrow!**_

 _ **I hope that you're all well.**_


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